Australian academic allegedly scammed woman out of $645,000, then faked his death

By South Asia bureau chief Meghna Bali and Bhat Burhan in New Delhi and Indu Bhagat in Pune

Topic:Crime

Thu 10 Jul

Thursday 10 July

Abhishek Shukla wears glasses as he sits in an empty room and takes a selfie.

Abhishek Shukla met the alleged victim on an Indian matchmaking service. (ABC News: Supplied)

In short:

Indian police have arrested an Australian man accused of duping a woman out of about $645,000 after meeting her online.

The 44-year-old used a fake persona and promised to marry the woman, before tricking her into transferring money, police will allege.

Police will allege he contacted almost 3,200 women on one of India's largest matchmaking sites.

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An Australian man accused of duping a woman out of roughly $645,000 in an alleged marriage scam, then faking his death, has been arrested by Indian police.

Police will allege Abhishek Shukla, a former university lecturer in Australia, contacted at least 3,194 women on one of India's largest matchmaking sites.

It was there he befriended a 40-year-old divorced woman and set about hoodwinking her, police alleged.

According to Indian police allegations, Dr Shukla had posed as "Dr Rohit Oberoi", an Australian of Indian origin, to gain the woman's trust and defraud her.

Abhishek Shukla leans on a film projector and holds up a mobile phone.

Abhishek Shukla cultivated an eclectic public persona as an innovator, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. (Charles Darwin University)

The woman, whose identity has been protected for privacy, had received about $900,000 in alimony from her previous marriage.

She was looking for a fresh start when she signed up to Shaadi.com — one of India's largest matrimonial platforms, where people look for prospective marriage partners.

That was where she first crossed paths with Dr Shukla in 2023, police said.

Do you know more about this story?

Get in touch with Meghna Bali at Bali.Meghna@abc.net.au.

The woman was planning to start a business related to mindfulness and spirituality programs for school children and shared her ambition of expanding her work internationally.

Police will allege Dr Shukla, 44, "took advantage" of this dream by offering to help with funding and overseas contacts.

She allegedly transferred around $645,000 to bank accounts in India and Singapore, believing it would help to grow her business.

After receiving the funds, police will allege Dr Shukla left for Australia and claimed he had been diagnosed with mouth cancer.

Communication dwindled and eventually stopped entirely.

In September 2024, the alleged victim received an email from a person calling themselves Vincent Kuan, informing her that Dr Rohit Oberoi had died.

Growing suspicious, the woman confided in a friend, who told her to verify the details, police said.

She contacted police in November 2024 and an investigation began.

When Dr Shukla landed in Mumbai on a flight from Singapore in June, he was arrested and charged with offences including cheating, impersonating others and identity theft.

Ten police officers in brown uniforms stand in a semi circle around a man kneeling on the floor with a bag over his head.

Abhishek Shukla is being held in police custody in India. (Supplied: Pune Cyber Police)

Dr Shukla remains in custody but has not faced court or responded to the allegations yet.

Police are investigating whether the alleged fraud was an isolated incident.

What do we know about Dr Shukla?

Dr Abhishek Shukla was born in Lucknow, a city in northern India, and worked in Australia for several years.

Police have confirmed he is an Australian citizen.

He had most recently lived in Perth and Palmerston, near Darwin, but was also based across Singapore and India at the time of the alleged romance scamming, police said.

According to publicly available information, Dr Shukla was a business lecturer at Charles Darwin University (CDU) in Darwin.

He holds a doctorate in international business and strategic management from the University of Melbourne.

At CDU he coordinated undergraduate programs, chaired research committees, and taught marketing and management courses.

He has also published academic work on the internationalisation of small businesses.

Abhishek Shukla sits at a high table in front of a sign featuring the brands of sponsors of an event.

Abhishek Shukla is an Australian citizen, Indian police have confirmed. (ABC News: Supplied)

Beyond academia, Dr Shukla cultivated an eclectic public persona as an innovator, filmmaker and entrepreneur.

He has appeared in media stories about "disruptive" technologies, developing and patenting a QR code-based platform to stream movies directly to smartphones and TVs without subscriptions.

One of his films, Social Media Murder Society, explored how social media users can expose themselves to strangers who manipulate and harm them.

"So often what we are doing when we use social media is exposing ourselves to absolute strangers. We only know them by who they say they are, but they can have extraordinary influence in our lives," he said in a 2018 interview.

"My film explores the dark side of this influence. There are real dangers in sharing too much information online with strangers."

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