Bombay High Court grants relief to 70-year-old Ali Ahmed Khan after police alleged Rs 23 lakh from a woman, who was cheated through a fake CBI threat, was routed through madrasa accounts
MUMBAI — The Bombay High Court this week granted bail to 70-year-old madrasa trustee and imam Ali Ahmed Khan, more than one and a half years after his arrest in a case linked to a so-called “digital arrest” fraud, where a woman was allegedly forced to transfer Rs 23 lakh after being threatened with arrest in a fake money laundering case.
The case had drawn attention after the money was found deposited in the bank account of Falah Dareen Sabri Madrasa Samiti. Khan serves as trustee and his son Asad Khan is vice-president of the madrasa committee.
However, Khan has maintained that he himself was deceived by fraudsters who approached him in the name of helping the madrasa with donations. His lawyers argued before the court that the elderly imam had no knowledge that cyber criminals were using the madrasa account to move money collected through fraud.
The matter began after complainant Madhuri Amar Vaswani approached the Nashik Cyber Police on December 24, 2024. According to the complaint, unknown persons contacted her through WhatsApp and video calls, claiming that she was under investigation by the CBI in a money laundering case.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened her with arrest and told her that she could avoid legal action only by transferring money to a specified bank account. Out of fear, the woman transferred Rs 23 lakh.
Later, after discussing the matter with her son, she realised that she had fallen victim to an organised cyber fraud operation. A police investigation traced the money to the madrasa committee’s account, leading to the arrest of Khan and scrutiny of the madrasa management.
According to defence counsel, Syed Wajid Hussain, the elderly trustee had himself been manipulated by the main accused, including absconding suspect Altaf Shafi.
Advocate Hussain told the court that two men had approached Khan claiming they wanted to arrange online donations for the madrasa. They allegedly advised him to open a new account with ICICI Bank so that donors could transfer funds digitally.
“To gain his confidence, they first transferred Rs 40,000 into the account,” the lawyer argued. “After that, they collected the ATM card, passwords and other banking details from him on the pretext of arranging more donations for the madrasa.”
The defence argued that the accused trustee had no direct role in threatening the complainant woman or forcing her to transfer money. It was further argued that the actual fraudsters used the madrasa account as a temporary route before moving the funds to another account in Jammu and Kashmir.
The police investigation also found links to similar complaints in Indore and Bilaspur, where the absconding accused were allegedly involved in comparable cyber fraud cases.
Earlier, a Nashik Sessions Court had rejected Khan’s bail application. However, Justice Shiv Kumar Dige of the Bombay High Court later granted bail while considering the accused’s advanced age and the fact that the prosecution would still need to prove the allegations during trial.
The high court observed that the investigation against the main absconding accused was continuing and that the role attributed to the elderly madrasa trustee would need detailed examination during the trial process.
Khan and his son have now received bail in three separate cases connected to the alleged cyber fraud network.
The case has once again raised questions about how cyber fraud gangs are targeting ordinary people, including elderly citizens and religious institutions, by misusing trust and exploiting lack of technical knowledge.
Cybercrime experts say “digital arrest” scams have increased sharply in recent years, with fraudsters posing as officials from agencies such as the CBI, police or customs department to frighten victims into transferring money.
Legal observers said the case also highlights the danger faced by charitable and religious organisations when outsiders seek access to their banking systems in the name of donations or financial support.
Advocate Syed Wajid Hussain said the madrasa trustee had spent months in jail despite being “a simple elderly imam running a religious institution”.
“He was made to believe genuine donations were coming for the madrasa,” the lawyer said. “The real operators used his trust and lack of technical understanding.”
