The Crime Branch was acting on a complaint lodged by Paschim Vihar resident Ramesh Anand on June 11, 1997. Anand said he received a call from Gold Crest saying that he had received a gift and should attend the presentation at Phulwari Restaurant at Pragati Maidan along with his wife.

He said that when he went there on June 12, 1997, he was offered a membership of the Interval International Club, Bangalore, through which he could use resorts both in India and abroad.

When Anand said that he didn't have enough money to pay for the membership just then, Rahul arranged a taxi and sent a man with Anand's wife to their M-314 Guru Harikishan Nagar residence to collect the cash. Next, he was told that since he could not become a member of the Interval International Club he could sign up for Green Fields Resort near Pune after paying around Rs 1.68 lakh.

Anand later discovered that Green Fields was yet to be completed and its affiliation with Resorts Condominiums India had been frozen from October 1, 1997. It was then that he realised that he couldn't holiday in foreign countries through the exchange programme with RCI.

However, when he asked for the money to be returned, Rahul refused. Anand then went to the Crime Branch.