Chandigarh-based gang that duped people of crores with remote job offers busted

Police have arrested three members of an online fraud gang that duped several people out of crores by offering them remote jobs with lucrative returns. The gang's kingpin, Gaurav, is still at large. The arrests were made following a complaint from a man who was defrauded of ?39.53 lakh ($53,000). The gang operated from Delhi NCR and used a Dubai IP address. They opened multiple bank accounts and used fake certificates and trading company flex boards in their scams.

Police have busted a gang of online fraudsters who duped several people of crores after offering them lucrative returns through remote jobs.

Police recovered 14 mobile phones and eight bank account kits from the accused. (HT Photo)

A total of three gang members have been arrested, leading to recovery of 14 mobile phones and eight bank account kits, said police.

Among them Sandeep Kumar Sangwan, 28, of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, is a postgraduate, and Manish Rawat, 33, of Dayalpur, north-east Delhi, is a graduate. The third accused, Rakesh, 28, is also from Charkhi Dadri. The gang’s kingpin, Gaurav, is at large.

Their arrest came following a probe into the complaint by Kawaljeet Singh of Sector 38, Chandigarh, who runs a travel agency. He had approached the police after being defrauded of ₹39.53 lakh by the gang.

Singh had submitted that on June 12, he received a WhatsApp message regarding a remote part-time job from “Lewis Digital Marketing”.

On contacting the number, he was told to invest ₹20 lakh in different bank accounts as investment, with the promise that he will earn profits after completing the assigned tasks. Trusting the gang’s assurances, Singh ended up depositing ₹39.53 lakh in all in the accused’s bank accounts, only to realise he had been defrauded after he received no returns.

Active since April

Investigators said the gang’s kingpin, Gaurav, Rakesh and Manish are friends.

“In April 2023, they conspired to scam people through work-from-home offers and contacted Sandeep Kumar, an employee of Hitech company near Rohtak, who helped them open current bank accounts in the name of different shell companies. They also opened an office in East Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, for the purpose of opening bank accounts, following which Gaurav fled to Dubai,” said SP Ketan Bansal.

Rakesh and Sandeep, according to the police, paid some of their contacts ₹10,000 each to open more bank accounts. Sandeep also prepared fake certificates of Haryana labour department and Shops Act, along with flex boards of trading companies.

The gang used eight accounts in all through which they committed multi-crore cyber fraud, said police.