Indian-origin student arrested for scam calls in US

Mahendra Darbar threatened 71-year-old Jose Lopez saying his account has financial irregularities and needs to be cleared immediately or else he would be jailed

Hyderabad: In a shocking instance, an Indian origin student, who is on student visa in the US, was arrested in December second week for duping an elderly man posing as a cop. The incident came to light recently. Mahendra Darbar threatened 71-year-old Jose Lopez saying his account has financial irregularities and needs to be cleared immediately or else he would be jailed.

According to US media, the victim had withdrawn $ 73,590 to hand over to the Darbar. Reports claim that he had threatened the victim for several days and deceived him. Darbar reportedly travelled from Pennsylvania to New Mexico to commit the crime.

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Lopez’s daughter, Amanda Gurule, has set up a GoFundMe to help her dad. “Our family just wants to be able to move forward from it and let people know to be careful and be checking on family around you,” said Gurule.

Media reports citing court records stated Darbar was released from jail on pre-trial supervision.