Delhi Police Busts Cybercrime Racket: Nine Arrested in Rs 2.38 Crore Investment Fraud

Delhi Police arrested nine individuals for a cybercrime racket that defrauded people of Rs 2.38 crore under the guise of stock market investment. The accused used multiple bank accounts to siphon funds, creating over 400 bogus firms. Police efforts are ongoing to recover the money.

Delhi Police has busted a cybercrime racket and arrested nine people, including a woman, who duped people on the pretext of high returns from investment in share market, officials said on Monday.

The police said the accused have collected around Rs 2.38 crore after cheating four people and efforts are underway to recover this amount.

''On January 17, a complaint of Vishal Sodhi was received at IFSO (special cell) regarding cheating on the pretext of investment through trading applications. Similar complaints were also received from three other people Manoj Kumar, Rajbir Yadav and Shailendra Kumar,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari said.

The victims told the police that they were added in a messenger group where online tutorials were conducted to train them on stock market trading.

The complainants were then lured to invest in multiple companies through their respective bank accounts and they invested a total amount of around Rs 2.38 crore. ''Based on the complaints, an FIR was registered and further investigation was taken up,'' the DCP said.

During the investigation, it was found 25 multiple-beneficiary bank accounts in which the fraudsters asked the complainants to deposit their money.

Tracing the digital footprint of the accused and trail of the cheated money, the police identified a suspect as Munish Sharma (37).

''A raid was conducted and Sharma was arrested from the Paschim Vihar area in Delhi. On his instance, eight more accused persons actively involved in the crime were arrested,'' the DCP said.

The latest arrest in the case was made on May 18, he said.

According to the police, accused Vikas Bansal and his associates Manoj Bansal, Tushar Garg and others have floated more than 400 bogus firms and also opened over 400 bank accounts linked to these firms. The fraudsters are using these bank accounts to siphon off the cheated money.

To park the proceeds of their crime, the accused used to contact indigent people and convinced them to open bank accounts in their names in lieu of a handsome amount, he said.

''The accused persons also collected their Aadhar cards, Pan cards and other KYC documents and floated bogus firms in the names of such people,'' he added.

The police also said the accused had taken premises on rent at different places in Delhi to register the bogus firms.

''Those who were arrested were identified as Munish Sharma, Guaurav Kumar (34), Paramjit (27), Ram Kumar Raman (32), Vikas Bansal (52), Tushar Garg (30), Manoj Bansal (50), Rajesh Kumar Goyal (57), Rachna (26). We also got to know that these accused were selling fake bank accounts to Dubai-based cyber cheaters,'' the DCP said.

The police said they have recovered 84 mobile phones, 250 sim cards, two laptops, four cheque book, five voter cards, 28 ATMs, and some documents of their bogus firms from their possession.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)