Former Minister of External Affairs and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid was allegedly cheated of Rs 59,000 by a man selling pricey Maltese puppies at a throwaway price on an e-commerce website.
"On February 13, I came across an advertisement on the internet for the sale of two Maltese puppies by one Tonny Wallace for Rs 12,000 per puppy," Khurshid stated in his complaint.
A Maltese puppy usually costs anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,25,000.
"I sent an email to the address tonnywallace@gmail.com, provided in the advertisement, expressing my interest in purchasing the puppies. Tonny said he was in Thekkady, Kerala, and I agreed to wire the money as Tonny said the puppies would be delivered at my residence in New Delhi on receipt of the payment," Khurshid said.
The accused also demanded money for the medical check-up and health certificates of the puppies to enable their travel to the national capital. "He introduced me to a pet travel agency by the name of Pacific Pet Re-locaters agency. The total amount came to Rs 59,000," alleged Khurshid.
After the deal was made Khurshid told Tonny that his office staff Sachin Kumar would coordinate with him.
Tonny mailed the bank details of one Ankit Bhadri, whom he introduced as his friend and asked Khurshid to make the payment to Bhadri.
"Sachin Kumar made online payment of Rs 59,000 to the bank account provided by Tonny and mailed him the payment details. The accused Tonny also stated that he would be available on his United States number +18453840230 and on Facebook," alleged Khurshid.
Days went by but the puppies were not delivered. Khurshid tried calling and also sent numerous e-mails to Tonny but he never responded to any of them. Finally he called complained to the police.
"Based on his complaint an FIR under Section 420 (Cheating) and 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act was registered at the Barakhamba Police station against Tonny Wallace, Ankit Bhadri and other unknown persons," said a senior police official adding," Further investigation in the matter is on and we are forwarding the case to the Crime Branch,"