Mumbai Police arrest 3 in Rs 3.45 crore stock market fraud case

The North Cyber division of the Mumbai Cyber Cell has successfully solved two separate cases of investment fraud where retired senior citizens were duped out of Rs 188 crore and Rs 157 crore respectively Three individuals have been arrested in connection with both cases with two suspects apprehended in Gujarat and one in PuneOfficials stated that the arrested suspects acted as beneficiaries providing their current accounts to cyber criminals believed to be operating from abroad The rapidly increasing stock market cyber fraud is suspected to be linked to operations in countries such as China Cambodia Hong Kong and DubaiThe two accused arrested from Gujarat have been identified as Saurabh Sanghani 29 a BSc graduate and chemical dealer from Ankleshwar and Gunjan Bhaisania 36 a dropout chemical engineer involved in the cosmetic business arrested in SuratBoth suspects are known to each other and have been conducting business together with Sanghani supplying chemicals to Bhaisania for his cosmetic businessAccording to the cyber police the arrested suspects were beneficiaries of a fraudulent account registered in Bhaisanias name but used by Sanghani Sanghani was receiving and withdrawing fraudulent funds from the accountIt was also discovered that Sanghani had granted access to the account to another individual which is now under investigationThe cyber cell reported that a total of Rs 6677 lakh from fraudulent activities had been deposited into the account and later transferred elsewhere by the person controlling it Officials further disclosed that 33 cyber fraud complaints have been registered against this account across IndiaWe have been working on the case for two to three months and after a detailed technical analysis arrests have been made Further links are being established to apprehend others involved in the scam said Datta Nalawade DCP CrimeAccording to officials a 71yearold retired professor was duped under the pretext of investing in the stock market between March and April this year In his statement to the police the complainant said he was added to a WhatsApp group called ICICI Securities VIP by an unknown person who identified himself as Rajiv Ambani the CIO and his assistant Laxmi They would regularly post stock market investment tips on the group The complainant mentioned that upon joining the group many people were sharing screenshots of the significant profits they claimed to have made using the tips providedAs per the FIR Rajiv Ambani posted a message in the group saying Now that Ive asked everyone to pay Rs 1000 per month let me take the responsibility Ive been investing in the stock market for 40 years dedicating my life to the capital market I enjoy the thrill of the marketrsquos ups and downs and hope to help everyone profit with my abilities I also aim to bring true popularity to ICICI You profit from my advice and I charge Rs 1000 per month Lets cooperate with each otherThe complainant convinced by the message transferred Rs 1000 to the fraudsterrsquos account Shortly after everyone in the group was removed except him The complainant alleged that Rajiv then contacted him directly claiming that he had resigned from ICICI Securities and was now running his own investment businessThe senior citizen fell for these claims and began investing through a fraudulent Demat account called EICICRE which the cybercriminals claimed was an institutional investment platform promising a 30 per cent profit The senior citizen downloaded the app and invested Rs 181 crore The app showed a balance of Rs 205 crore but he was unable to withdraw the funds It was only later that he realised he had been scammedAnother victim of stock market schemeIn a similar case of cyber fraud a 62yearold housewife was duped out of Rs 157 crore using tactics similar to those in previous scams She was added to a WhatsApp group and lured with promises of high returns Based on her complaint the cyber police arrested one suspect from Sambhaji Nagar last evening The accused identified as Devidas Rao Saheb Jadhav works as a driver in rural Maharashtra Officials revealed that his current account had received approximately R45 lakh from the total cyber fraud amount Jadhav willingly provided his account to the cybercriminals and withdrew the amount via chequeAccording to the cyber cell beneficiaries like Jadhav typically receive Rs 20000 to Rs 40000 per account based on the transactions made through their accounts and sometimes receive 1 per cent of the total transaction amount Officials added that the transactions in both cases formed the first layer after which the funds were transferred through 1012 different accounts to create multiple layers making it challenging for law enforcement to trace the moneyBy the time the authorities reach the final layer the money is often converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to foreign countries Officials have reported a significant rise in stock marketrelated cyber fraud cases this year with around 1000 cases being reported to the cyber policeThe cyber police handle cases where the fraud exceeds Rs 10 lakh while cases involving smaller amounts are being investigated by local police who have also received several hundred complaints of such investment fraud