The arrested accused has been identified as Alex Newman alias Emmanuel Indona (44) and the absconding as Ronnie Shaw.

According to police, Pankaj Dolwani (34), a businessman residing at AG Khan Road in Worli, received an email on March 7 promising a huge windfall soon after he purchased a BMW car. “The email that was sent by Newman congratulated Dolwani on winning a lottery draw applicable only for buyers of BMW cars. The email said that Dolwani was entitled to a prize money of 8,50,000 pounds,” said investigating officer and police sub-inspector Vinod Tawde of Worli police station.

But soon after, Dolwani received another mail from Newman demanding an initial payment of Rs 7,38,400 as “transaction charge” since the prize money was not in Indian currency. Dolwani then met the accused on March 19 and handed over the amount to him.

“As soon as Newman got the payment, he demanded an additional sum of Rs 4,40,000 and told Dolwani that he would get the prize money only after he pays the additional amount,” added Tawde. That was when Dolwani became suspicious and filed a police complaint. Accordingly, a trap was laid and Newman was arrested on March 19 when he came to collect money from Dolwani.