6 ‘recovery agents’ of online loan app arrested for harassment, extortion

The Mumbai city crime branch arrested six individuals working as recovery agents for an online loan application for allegedly harassing, threatening, and extorting money from a bank employee and his family regarding the repayment of digital loans. Investigators reported uncovering several other victims targeted by the same gang during the course of their inquiry.

The case unfolded after a 37-year-old bank employee based in Marol reported that he took a loan through an application called 'Ram Fincorp Loan'. Although he applied for Rs 29,000, only Rs 23,150 was credited to his account, and he subsequently repaid Rs 34,750 through a payment link. Investigators stated that while making the payment, the complainant unknowingly granted phone data access via an APK file, allowing the accused to harvest contacts, identity cards, photographs, and bank documents.

Following this, the complainant and his family received continuous extortion calls, verbal abuse, and threats of sexual assault directed at his wife, while relatives, friends, and colleagues were contacted and defamed. Despite already paying nearly Rs 17.6 lakh toward various online loans and interest, the apps continued to display outstanding dues exceeding Rs 10 lakh. The six arrested suspects were produced before a court and remanded to police custody while defense advocates argued that the accused were falsely framed.

According to police, the gang's strategy involved intimidating defaulters into taking additional loans at high interest rates to clear previous ones. The accused extracted personal data from victims' phones to create pressure, sent morphed photographs, and persisted with demands even after complete repayment. The authorities booked the suspects under relevant legal provisions for criminal intimidation, extortion, threatening, outraging a woman's modesty, and committing an organized act.

Not yet reported: The exact total number of victims apart from the primary complainant and the full scale of the financial operations across other states are not fully specified.