Gurugram: Two bank staff held in ₹50 lakh crypto investment fraud

Police say fake app and messaging groups used to lure victims. Accounts opened with forged documents

Two employees of a private bank were arrested on Saturday in connection with a ₹50 lakh cryptocurrency investment fraud in which residents were allegedly lured to invest in cryptocurrency, police said on Sunday. Earlier on Thursday, another co-accused was taken into custody for allegedly using a fake app and messaging platform groups to defraud victims.

FIR under BNS cheating and IT Act filed after January complaint; kickbacks and account sale under scanner. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A senior official at the Cyber police station (south) said five suspects, including two bank employees, were arrested for creating bank accounts using forged documents in exchange for money. “Based on a complaint received on January 15 this year, an investigation was launched,” the official said, adding that Pintu Kumar, 30; Rohit (single name), 30; and Umang Gupta, 26, all from Hathras, were arrested. Gupta, a sales executive for three years, and Rohit, a sales manager for six years, allegedly helped open the account used in the fraud, which Pintu bought from Dinesh for ₹30,000.

The money was transferred to an account of “Dinesh Enterprises”, the victim told police. Pintu and Ankul (single name) allegedly sold the account for ₹8 lakh, said Sandeep Turan, spokesperson, Gurugram police. “Gupta and Rohit allegedly took kickbacks ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh,” he added. An FIR under Section 318 (cheating) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act provisions was registered. More arrests are expected, police said.