He used fake credentials and created urgent situations to take the victim's life savings over several months.

Dr. Ali Anwar Qureshi was born and raised in California. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and ran a successful plastic surgery practice in Irvine, USA. In April 2025, he closed his practice, sold his house in the United States, and relocated to Hyderabad. His family resides there, and he planned to establish a medical practice in the city.

Shortly after arriving, Dr. Qureshi began looking for a Chartered Accountant to help him navigate India's complex financial and legal landscape. His cousin, Mr. Ashar Raoof, introduced him to Mohammed Mustafa Ali, a man who, investigators later discovered, lacked the qualifications he claimed to have.

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The accused claimed to be a CA, a practicing Advocate, and a former CBI employee. He also stated that his wife, Zeba Fatima, worked at the Income Tax Office, and his father, Mohammed Hamid Ali, was a seasoned tax consultant, presenting the family as a well-connected professional unit.

Dr. Qureshi stated that he was unfamiliar with how legal and financial systems operate in India. This unfamiliarity was used by the accused to commit fraud.

What followed was a series of transactions intended to extract money through several legitimate-looking processes, each with costs that significantly exceeded reasonable estimates. The accused was engaged to assist in the purchase of Flat No. 1407, Welkkin Heights, Prakash Nagar, Begumpet. He charged over Rs 5 lakh for basic legal due diligence, which Dr. Qureshi paid, but no report was provided.

On 2 July 2025, Dr. Qureshi transferred Rs 79.10 lakh via RTGS to Mohammed Mustafa Ali. The money was meant to cover Rs 32 lakh to the property seller, Rs 18 lakh towards GPA (General Power of Attorney) registration fees, and the rest for property registration charges.

The accused claimed the property registration fees would be Rs 29 lakh. However, Dr. Qureshi later learned from another source that these charges are usually 1% of the sale deed value, which, in his case, was about Rs 2.5 lakh. He also learned that registering a mortgage GPA actually costs only Rs 5,000, but the accused had taken Rs 18 lakh for it.

During the property deal, Mohammed Mustafa Ali often told Dr. Qureshi not to discuss his financial transactions with his cousin or anyone else. Keeping Dr. Qureshi isolated from trusted advisors was key to the fraud, as it prevented anyone from noticing the inflated charges before payments were made.

In a separate instance, the accused claimed he was filing Dr. Qureshi's income tax returns and informed him that his taxable income would be shown as Rs 60 lakh, requesting Rs 10,10,500 towards tax payment. When Dr. Qureshi repeatedly asked for the tax receipt, it was never produced.

Eventually, another accountant accessed the online portal and found that the accused declared only Rs 6 lakh as Dr. Qureshi's taxable income, paid no tax, and pocketed the entire Rs 10 lakh.

When Dr. Qureshi sought to register a One Person Company called Beverly Hills Cosmetics, the accused quoted a fee of Rs 12,98,000 payable to the Registrar of Companies. Dr. Qureshi later found that the actual cost is about Rs 10,000. Even after collecting the inflated amount, the registration was never carried out.

Despite having already collected Rs 18 lakh for GPA registration, the accused demanded an additional Rs 4,25,000 to book a slot for the same GPA registration. WhatsApp chat records preserving this demand were retained as evidence.

By the time Dr. Qureshi had paid over Rs 1 crore and had not received property registration, tax receipts, or company registration, he requested a proper accounting from the accused.

The accused did not provide accounts. Instead, he claimed that Dr. Qureshi still owed him Rs 1.5 lakh for legal and accountancy services. By then nearly drained of funds, Dr. Qureshi managed to arrange Rs 50,000 and paid it via IMPS on 6 October 2025.

What followed was a series of intimidating actions. The accused made repeated calls and texts, issuing threats such as make you disappear and you can't even fathom what I'm capable of. When Dr. Qureshi's cousin confronted him, the accused responded by shouting at the cousin and then calling Dr. Qureshi to continue making threats.

A subsequent inquiry by Dr. Qureshi's cousin revealed the full extent of the deception. Mohammed Mustafa Ali was neither a Chartered Accountant nor an Advocate. He had never worked for the CBI. His wife was not an Income Tax Officer. Every professional credential to gain the NRI's trust had been invented.

Dr. Qureshi alleged that all three accused, Mohammed Mustafa Ali, his wife Zeba Fatima, and his father Mohammed Hamid Ali, collectively conspired to scam him out of his life savings. Dr. Qureshi paid them a total of Rs 1.06 crore, which he had accumulated by selling his house and closing his U.S. medical practice.

Based on Dr. Qureshi's complaint, the Central Crime Station in Hyderabad registered a case against all three accused. The charges, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), include criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The accused's wife, Zeba Fatima, and the accused's father, Mohammed Hamid Ali, filed a petition seeking anticipatory bail, their second such petition, the first having been dismissed.

Nampally court considered the petitioners' personal circumstances. Zeba Fatima is the mother of a 45-day-old, whom she still breastfeeds. Mohammed Hamid Ali is an elderly person who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure and needs medical care. The court also noted that most of the investigation had been completed, as per the Remand Case Diary.

On 12 March 2026, the court granted anticipatory bail to both petitioners with several conditions. They must surrender to the Police, CCS, DD, Hyderabad, within one week of the order. After surrendering, they will be released on bail once they sign a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and provide two sureties for the same amount. If they do not follow these instructions, their bail will be cancelled. They must be available for questioning whenever CCS, DD, Hyderabad, requires it. They are not allowed to influence, threaten, or interfere with evidence or anyone involved in the case. They cannot leave India without the court's permission and must hand over their passports to the court. They also need to appear before CCS, DD, Hyderabad, on the 25th of each month for three months or until the charge sheet is filed, whichever happens first.