The Chandigarh Police have registered a case against a city resident for allegedly duping a Beijing-based firm of USD 1.3 lakh under the pretext of supplying surgical masks during the year 2020.
In his police complaint, Rajender Aggarwal, who represents Beijing HJC, New Delhi, alleged that Mastram, a resident of Sector 21A, Chandigarh, approached them claiming to run Vam Pharma, a company that manufactures and supplies pharmaceutical products. The accused allegedly approached HJC for the supply of pharmaceutical goods. On February 11, 2020, both parties entered into an agreement, as part of which the accused agreed to sell five lakh three-ply surgical face masks to HJC for USD 130,000. According to the agreement, HJC was to pay 50 percent of the total amount in advance and the remaining 50 percent at the time of raising the sale invoice, when the material was ready for dispatch to China.
HJC transferred USD 65,000 into the seller's bank account on February 13, 2020. The balance amount of USD 65,000 was transferred on February 18, 2020. However, the accused did not supply the surgical masks to the complainant as agreed. HJC instructed the accused to make a fixed deposit of the funds received from the third party in the State Bank of India. The accused confirmed that he had parked the funds in fixed deposits until he got the requisite permission to make payment to HJC from the Reserve Bank of India.
In January 2025, the accused obtained approval for the remittance from the RBI but allegedly diverted the funds for his own use. Based on the complaint, the UT Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation into the matter.
