Karnataka High Court refuses to quash FIR against duo in Amazon scam; know how they defraud e-commerce giant of over Rs 69 lakh

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru-based duo allegedly exploited e-commerce giant Amazon’s return policy to defraud the company of over Rs 69 lakh, prompting the Karnataka High Court to dismiss their plea to quash the FIR against them.

Sourish Bose, with the alleged help of Deepanvita Ghosh, placed orders for high-end products, made payments through his bank account and had the items delivered to Ghosh’s address.

Within 24 hours, he would initiate a return, secure a refund, and replace the genuine products with cheap replicas, returning them in their original packaging. The return addresses, according to investigators, included Ghosh’s residence and other locations across Bengaluru.

The alleged fraud, which was discovered by an Amazon employee in 2017, led to the duo being booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (identity theft).

Justice M Nagaprasanna, delivering the order on November 22, described the case as an example of a "modern age crime" and declined to quash the FIR or the magistrate court’s cognisance of the charges.

The accused had argued that the case should be dismissed, but the court refused to intervene, emphasising the need for further investigation. A detailed order is awaited.