Lucknow | The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force has busted two major fraud rackets involving multi-crore swindles in fake share market investments, cryptocurrency and forex schemes, officials said on Thursday.
In one of the cases, the Special Task Force (STF) arrested Rupesh Bhardwaj, 26, a resident of Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, from Gurugram on Wednesday.
He was charged duping investors with promises of high returns in the share market and IPOs, following a complaint from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Bhardwaj operated a firm named X Traders Enterprises, which is not registered with SEBI, and used fake share certificates and documents to gain investors' trust. He shut down his Ghaziabad office and went into hiding in Gurugram as complaints mounted, the officials said.
During his arrest, the police seized forged Aadhaar cards, four mobile phones, a PAN card, bank passbooks, and bank statements.
Investigations revealed that around 14 cyber fraud complaints had been registered against him across several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Puducherry.
In a separate operation, the STF arrested Jatindra Ram, 41, a resident of Yamunanagar, Haryana, and the alleged kingpin of a multi-crore cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment fraud.
Jatindra Ram was nabbed on Wednesday evening from a restaurant on Delhi Road in Saharanpur in connection with a case registered at Masuri Police Station in Ghaziabad.
Officials said Jatindra Ram lured investors into an online trading company named 'Sea Prime Capital' by promising high returns in cryptocurrency and USDT, using advertisements, social media campaigns and seminars to attract investors.
During interrogation, Jatindra Ram revealed that he and his associates — Mohit Rana, Gaurav Singh, Geeta Hazarika — operated a well-organised network with over 3,500 agents across the country, creating more than 30,000 user IDs, and managing funds totaling Rs 700-800 crore.
The STF said the gang used a trading application called MT-5, which is not authorised in India, to create fake user accounts and display inflated profits to mislead investors.
Some victims were given initial returns to build trust and encourage further investments.
The collected funds were allegedly converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to accounts in Dubai and Mauritius, where the money was used to buy assets.
The accused created shell companies in India to launder the proceeds and present them as legitimate income.
Jatindra Ram was booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2000.
New Delhi | Delhi Police has arrested six people for their alleged involvement in a transnational cyber fraud syndicate operating fake loan applications and siphoning money through mule bank accounts, an official said on Thursday.
The arrests were made after investigators traced a suspicious account in Kapashera being used to route cheated funds, he said.
During the probe, police identified the account holder, Nehal Babu, 23, who had allegedly rented out his UPI-linked QR code to other members of the syndicate in exchange for money.
Based on his interrogation and technical surveillance, five more accused -- Tabrej Alam, 21, Ritesh Kumar, 20, Vishal Kumar, 22, Karan Kumar, 24, and Shami Mohd, 27 -- were apprehended from Delhi-NCR, he said.
Police said six mobile phones containing incriminating data, including chats and transaction details, were recovered. Analysis of the devices revealed links with foreign handlers operating through virtual numbers from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"The syndicate lured victims through fake loan apps, gaining access to their mobile data. Victims were then harassed and threatened using morphed images, forcing them to repay inflated amounts.
"The cheated money was routed through mule accounts using UPI IDs and later withdrawn in cash before being converted into cryptocurrency, including USDT, to conceal the money trail," the officer said.
At least seven complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) have been linked to the case so far, while details of several other accounts are being analysed to identify more victims, he said.
New Delhi | Two people have been arrested for allegedly cheating a man of around Rs 7 lakh on the pretext of high returns through a fake stock investment scheme operated via a social media app, police said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Shashikant Sharma and Deepak, were apprehended from the Palam area in Delhi on April 5, they said.
According to police, the case was registered at Cyber Police Station Shahdara on the complaint of a man who alleged that he was duped of Rs 7 lakh after being lured into an investment scheme promising high returns.
The complainant told police that fraudsters posing as a firm's representatives added him to a group on a social media platform. They shared fake credentials and posed as legitimate stock brokers, initially offering free stock recommendations and analysis reports, he said.
Over time, the victim was persuaded to invest money and was shown fictitious investments in initial public offerings, with his portfolio reflecting false utilisation of funds, police said.
When he tried to withdraw the amount, he could not and realised he had been cheated.
During the investigation, police found that the accused were part of a cyber fraud syndicate that targeted victims through social media groups, luring them with fake investment opportunities and routing the money through multiple bank accounts before siphoning it off.
Police traced a portion of the defrauded amount to a bank account linked to a shell entity operating from a virtual office in central Delhi.
The accused were involved in creating such entities and arranging mule bank accounts to facilitate the transfer of fraudulent funds, they added.
Police recovered two mobile phones and digital evidence from the accused, which is being analysed.
So far, 29 complaints have been linked to the syndicate, and investigators believe no actual investments were made, with all transactions being part of a fraudulent scheme.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network and trace the remaining amount, police said.