Mumbai, Oct 15 (NIE): An executive working with a leading multi-national bank accused a woman he met on a matrimonial website of allegedly duping him of Rs 23 lakh.

The 31-year-old, who is an assistant vice-president at the Powai branch of the bank, told police that he met one Radhika Dixit on a matchmaking website in August 2017 and exchanged phone numbers with her.

Dixit, the police said, claimed to be an HR professional in a leading insurance firm in Mumbai.

Police said Dixit asked the executive to gift her an Apple iPhone 7 for her birthday in August last year. However, the two could not meet on her birthday as she claimed that her father was admitted to a hospital for a foot surgery, they said. “The accused called the executive later and told him that she urgently required Rs 10 lakh for her father’s treatment”, said an officer at Powai police station. He transferred Rs 4.5 lakh into her bank account, handed over a new smartphone and another Rs 4.5 lakh in cash to a driver she had sent, the officer claimed.

According to police, at the end of August 2017, Dixit told the executive that she required another Rs. 50,000 and asked him to transfer the money to a friend’s bank account. “Over the rest of the year, she kept requesting him for more money and paid around Rs12 lakh more,” added the officer. All the while, Dixit claimed that her father’s health had improved and kept postponing a meeting with the executive in order to discuss marriage plans, the officer said.

After the executive insisted that they meet, Dixit agreed to meet him in Powai in February 2018. On that day, however, the police said, the woman who came to meet him did not resemble the one in her profile picture in the website.

“The woman said she had lied about her name and had uploaded the picture of another woman. She confessed to him of having lied about her father’s ill health, apologised for cheating him and promised to return his money soon,” the officer claimed. The executive sent several reminders to her to return his money. However, when earlier this month, she allegedly refused to pay him, he lodged a complaint at the Powai police station.

“The woman had deliberately posted a different picture on her profile and had duped the executive into giving her money under several guises,” said Anil Pophale, senior inspector, Powai police station. The woman has not been arrested yet, he added.