Gang that duped elderly by investment fraud busted, 11 held

It was revealed that the syndicate operated offices in Delhi’s Rohini and Netaji Subhash Place to open and operate mule bank accounts

Delhi Police has arrested 11 persons in connection with a Cambodia-linked online investment fraud that primarily cheated senior citizens through fake schemes and operated from offices in Delhi’s Netaji Subhash Place and Rohini, officials said on Tuesday.

The suspects managed mule bank accounts across Delhi and Mumbai for cyber fraudsters based in Cambodia, who targeted Indian citizens through investment scams by luring them with promises of high returns. (Representational image)

According to police, seven of them were arrested in parts of Delhi, while the other four were caught in Rajasthan’s Beawar. Police said the suspects managed mule bank accounts across Delhi and Mumbai for cyber fraudsters based in Cambodia, who targeted Indian citizens through investment scams by luring them with promises of high returns.

Police also seized 40 mobile phones, 92 SIM cards, 39 passbooks and chequebooks, 27 ATM cards, four PAN cards, six Unified Payment Interface (UPI) scanners, two point of sale (POI) machines and other electronic gadgets from the arrested individuals.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel said the arrests followed an investigation into an FIR registered at the southwest district’s cyber police station last November. The case originated from a complaint by 60-year-old caterer, A Srinivasan, who had been duped of ₹22.67 lakh by the syndicate.

In his complaint, Srinivasan alleged that the fraudsters lured him through a social media advertisement, misusing a Union minister’s speech to promote AI-based trading and directing users to register via a link. “After Srinivasan registered, some unknown people posing as investment advisors contacted him and induced him to invest money,” the DCP said.

“The fraudsters registered Srinivasan on fraudulent investment platforms — Mudraone and (9Pro – client.9pro.io). He was instructed to invest in Kreoviah Technology Pvt. Ltd. However, after receiving the money, the suspects blocked communication and disappeared, cheating the victim of ₹22.67 lakh,” added Goel.

Police registered a case of cheating by impersonation, forgery and criminal conspiracy, and a team led by Pravesh Kaushik, station house officer (SHO) of the cyber police station, began the investigation. The team used money trail analysis, data and call details record analysis, technical surveillance, digital footprint analysis, social media analysis and local intelligence gathering, police said.

It was revealed that the syndicate operated offices in Delhi’s Rohini and Netaji Subhash Place to open and operate mule bank accounts. Police raided both offices simultaneously last week and arrested five people: Tajindra Singh alias Lucky (26), Ashish Saini (24), Shiv Dayal Singh (28), Shiva (18) and Giriraj Kishore (18). Two more account holders, Pratibha alias Payal (25) and Satish (34) were identified and arrested for facilitating the operation of mule accounts, said an investigator.

Further analysis revealed that the cheated amount was routed through multiple layers and credited into a private bank account (second layer) opened in Goregaon East, Mumbai. Technical surveillance led to the identification of accused persons who had shifted from Bijai Nagar, Beawar (Rajasthan) to Mumbai to operate the network. Raids were conducted in Mumbai and four people, Ramdev Sangla (50), Praveen Kumawat alias Lucky (20), Deepak Mewara aka Dev (35) and Trilok Chand Nayak (32) were arrested.