A case of marriage fraud has come to limelight in Bengaluru, where a married man defrauded a female software engineer of over Rs 1.5 crore under the pretext of marriage. Police have registered a case and started an investigation. The woman software engineer, a resident of Whitefield, has filed a complaint with the police and alleged that a man she met on a matrimonial site cheated her out of more than Rs 1.53 crore.
Here’s how it started in March 2024
The incident was reported in March 2024 when the complainant, who works in the IT sector, connected with a man named Vijay Raj Gowda, also known as Vijeth BK, on a matrimonial platform.
To gain her trust, Vijeth portrayed himself as a high-profile businessman with a company called VRG Enterprises, boasting a fleet of trucks, a stone crusher, and prime real estate properties in Rajajinagar and Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru.
To further convince her, he even shared a document from a 2019 Enforcement Directorate (ED) case where Vijay was identified as an accused. Using this document, the accused allegedly spoke about frozen assets and claimed his total net worth was Rs 715 crore.
Once the relationship developed and marriage was discussed, the financial exploitation began. Starting with a small request of Rs 15,000 in April 2024, the demands escalated rapidly.
Vijeth allegedly coerced software engineer into taking out loans
Vijeth allegedly coerced the software engineer into taking out loans and borrowing money from her friends and family under the pretext of joint business investments. Over several months, the accused systematically extracted money from the victim's circle, including Rs 89 lakh from her colleagues and friends and over Rs 28 lakh from her parents, including her mother's retirement savings.
He also convinced her to pawn her personal jewelry, yielding an additional Rs 10 lakh. The victim transferred a total of Rs 1,75,66,890 to the accused using five different bank accounts at HDFC, Canara Bank, ICICI, and Bank of Baroda.
Although approximately Rs 22.5 lakh was returned to maintain the pretense of a genuine business deal, the victim alleges that over Rs 1.5 crore is still outstanding.
Vijeth's father identified himself as retired Tehsildar
Meanwhile, Vijeth's father, Bore Gowda, who identified himself as a retired Tehsildar, allegedly provided company checks as a guarantee to further solidify the deception. The scam came to limelight when the victim went to Vijeth's house to demand her money back. She was shocked to discover that Vijeth was already married and had a child. Most surprisingly, the woman who had been introduced to her as his sister, Soumya, was actually his wife.
The software engineer realised that the entire family had created a false image to trick her into handing over her hard-earned money and savings. When the victim confronted the accused, he became aggressive and threatened to kill her and her friends.
Based on the victim's complaint, the police have registered an FIR against the three main accused: Vijeth B., his father Bore Gowda UJ, and his wife Soumya. The police are now investigating the transaction records and the authenticity of the court order allegedly used by the accused family to deceive the victim.
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