A 14.5 Million Scam - The Victim: "These are thirsty people, merciless, I no longer had money"

The manager of a management and offshore company was scammed out of 14.5 million Rs due to his interest in acquiring cars from the customs department (Cargo Handling Corporation). He believed the promises made by police officer Yashwantsing Prayagsing, who was arrested by the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) on April 2. He is accused of being the mastermind behind a scam operation. From September 2024 to December 2025, this management expert fell victim to the scam.

"The business seemed genuine, the way those people operated," said the manager. This offshore and management professional trusted the promises of a group of con artists who devised a scheme to strip him of all his financial resources. In the dock is police officer Yashwantsing Prayagsing, arrested by the FCC in early April. He faces money laundering charges and was released on bail this week.

Prayagsing's gang convinced the offshore company manager that he would become the owner of a series of cars. He blindly believed their promises and spent 14.5 million Rs.

He had over 10 million Rs in his account. He confirmed that the source of his funds came from legitimate activities. In 2024, the offshore company manager was playing football on the Gymkhana field when he met police officer Yashwantsing Prayagsing. A friendship developed, and they quickly became business partners... involving large sums of money.

Prayagsing presented himself as an intermediary for the sale of cars under customs control. "These are cars that people have exported but cannot afford to clear. Yashwantsing said that customs was looking for buyers and that he was an agent for Cargo Handling Corporation, and that these were cars from 2022 and 2023, which would be sold at a reduced price," explained the offshore company director.

Legality

As a savvy director of an offshore entity, Hans wanted to ensure the legality of the operation. He received assurances from the officer. "The officer told me it was a completely legal affair. He is a police officer. For payments, he told me to make bank transfers. I understood that it was an extraordinary deal. I work in the finance sector; I don’t want any shady dealings, I want everything to be above board."

The director made a deposit for the acquisition of a 2022 Honda Vezel. The next day, he received a phone call from the number +206 1700. On the other end was a certain Jean Pascal from Cargo Handling Corporation, confirming the payment deposit and requesting the buyer's documents: "He told me to send my ID card, my incorporation certificate, BRN, etc."

The director started the procedures and was soon invited by the officer to purchase a second car, a 2022 BMW Series 4. "I told them I hadn’t received the first car yet, but they told me to make a deposit for the second car; it would be fine."

He only saw pictures of these two cars and not in reality. He was not invited to the port area to see the vehicles in person. "I told them I was buying a car; I needed to come to customs to see the cars. Officer Prayagsing told me that customs is a very restricted area."

The officer assured the director that once the payments were completed, he could go on site to pick up his two cars. But as the date approached, other problems arose, particularly concerning paperwork regarding the "Bill of Lading."

Third Car

The officer implemented a trick to persuade the director to acquire a third car. "They said there were supposed to be five cars cleared, but one client canceled for his car, and customs was offering a better price, so they proposed a third car to me."

For the director, at that moment, the offer seemed like a good deal, and he planned to venture into the car business. "It seemed like a good business opportunity, I accepted, I said I would expand and diversify my business, I updated my BRN to start a car sales business," he added.

His payments reached 4.5 million Rs, and he awaited the delivery of his cars. But once again, the facilitators found excuses to delay the deadline. "They told me each car needed MRA approval and that MRA found I had received too many discounts."

They demanded additional sums from the buyer. But the wait became long for the director. Officer Prayagsing and others working for him requested additional fees from him: "They told me MRA was requiring me to pay a storage fee."

He agreed to cover that cost. A new delivery date was set, but he was put on hold again. "They told me that those cars were held by someone involved in illicit transactions."

The days and nights began to stretch long and stressful for Hans, who grew anxious facing Officer Prayagsing and his facilitators in contact with him. "I told them you are scamming me because every time there was a delivery, there was an issue."

Mental Manipulation

Fed up with this situation, in which the wait for receiving these cars became unbearable, the director demanded that the officer and his accomplices cancel all his transactions. "I am exhausted; at first, they told me that if I canceled, I would get my refund immediately, then they told me there would be an investigation against me."

To facilitate his refund requests for his investment of 4.5 million Rs, other accomplices of Officer Prayagsing came into play, including pseudo-high-ranking customs officials. But very quickly, the fake customs officer gained the trust of the investor and managed to sell him two additional cars, including a Toyota Allion and a Mercedes GLA.

The director’s count reached seven cars, with an investment of 8 million Rs. Payments were made, but no deliveries occurred. "When the delivery date approached, the customs officer told his wife, who was very ill, had passed away."

Twice, the director went to the port area to meet with this customs official but to no avail. "I told that person that they had made me lose money, and still no delivery."

14.5 Million Rs

The saga of this well-orchestrated scam is far from over for this director, who is being gradually stripped of his resources without realizing it. Officer Yashwantsing Prayagsing delegated another customs official to be at his service to get reimbursed.

Instead of being reimbursed, the senior customs official offered him a range of luxury cars, including a lot of twelve "luxury cars": BMW, Mercedes, and Range Rover. The director agreed to replace the cars he had already acquired with these high-end vehicles. But not without costs. "I selected eight cars; they said there was a need for a readjustment. My cash began to dwindle, I had to take advance payments from clients, and I started taking money from my wife's savings."

Officer Prayagsing and his accomplices managed to extract 14.5 million Rs from the director, with new car offers each time he complied.

As the delivery approached, the scammers backed out on the director. "They told me there were no workers at customs; I told them there was no problem, I would bring eight drivers, I would take my cars, I was getting annoyed."

All his savings evaporate. From being well-off, the director faced financial instability. "I no longer had money to pay rent for my offices or to run my business; they came up with another strategy to take money from me," added the director.

He reported to the Financial Crime Commission, which arrested Officer Prayagsing for money laundering. He hopes that Prayagsing's accomplices will be arrested for having scammed him.