‘Most wanted’ conman with 14 duping cases in 8 states arrested in Mangaluru

When Mangaluru city police apprehended Sam Peter (real name Antony) for posing as an NCIB director along with seven others, little did they have a clue that they had in their hooks one of the ‘most wanted’ accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Interpol. The 53-year-old suspect was wanted by several states for allegedly duping people, banks, financial institutions and allied organisations. Allegedly a serial offender, police officials found at least seven aliases of Antony, including Rahul Peter in Kodagu, Karnataka, Sam Peter in Maharashtra, along with Rajesh Robinson, Reethu Richard, Roy Jacob, Robin Richardson and Richard Robinson at various other places.

“He successfully withheld his real name Antony, even as he was fraudulently able to procure two passports, one carrying the name Rajesh Robinson from Kerala (Passport No. A626921) and another as a resident of Odisha by the name of Sam Peter (Passport No. M 4929462),” Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Dr PS Harsha said.

“Besides borrowing money from people and not repaying, Antony also used to abduct people using his bodyguards and collect ransom using threat and intimidation. However, none of the victims have filed a complaint against him,” the Commissioner said. Police officials said that for years Sam Peter has been posing as an NCIB (National Crime Investigation Bureau) director in Karnataka and using his conning, intimidation and arm-twisting tactics to fleece money from a lot of people. Spilling details of his modus operandi, Antony said while posing as NCIB director, he got acquainted with a Bengaluru based lawyer named Muzzafar Ahmed. “Carrying out a kind of ‘parallel policing’, the duo would take up people’s ‘complaints’ on money related matters assuring them that they would privately investigate and resolve it. For this, the duo and its team collected a hefty fee from the ‘clients’,” the Commissioner said. In this backdrop, Bengaluru Customs had confiscated gold smuggled by a person named Dubai Sharif. Sharif contacted lawyer Muzzafar, who advised him to pay Rs 1.7 crore to Girish Rai and Imtiyaz to ensure that a case is not registered. However, the Customs department booked a case, therefore causing loss to Sharif who demanded a refund of the amount from Muzzafar. Subsequently, Muzzafar directed Sam Peter to go to Mangaluru and kidnap Girish and Imtiyaz and recover the money. It was then that Antony teamed up with TK Bopanna (33), Madan (41), Chinnappa (38), Sunil Raju (35), Kodandarama (39), G Mohiddin (70) and Abdul Lathif (59) for the abduction and recovery of the amount. But before executing their plan, they were arrested. A case of violating the Arms Act and misuse of the state emblem has been registered against Antony at the Mangaluru East Police Station. Tech savvy Antony was very meticulous and did not even register a SIM in his name. He had created a fake video of a raid conducted by his team and used to intimidate people with the same. He even used to SMS a fake number of senior police officials and show the frequency of interaction with police higher-ups to his unsuspecting victims to validate his claims. He also took pictures with celebrities and renowned personalities by introducing himself as an NCIB director. In a separate case, police are also investigating Antony’s role in abducting a prominent GSB leader and a Swamiji from Kerala on the behest of a businessman named Ramachandra Nayak from Udupi. Police have already arrested Nayak. Besides this, police have found other cases against Antony from Chikkamagaluru, Mangaluru, Yelahanka new town, Dibburahalli and Chikkaballapur district under several charges including violating the Arms Act and are investigating. The Interpol had issued a Red Corner notice against him in 1998, the Commissioner informed. While the police have procured a nine-day custody of Antony, he is also being questioned by CBI and Interpol sleuths. In coordination with other stations from the state, the police have also arrested Antony’s associates for questioning. Source: The News Minute