Jaipur resident falls victim to stock market fraud, loses ₹1.07 crore

Four share brokers booked for defrauding a Jaipur resident of ₹1.07 crore through a stock market investment scheme. Victim approached police.

MUMBAI: Four share brokers were booked for defrauding a 39-year-old Jaipur resident, Nandlal Saini, who lost ₹1.07 crore in a purported stock market investment scheme.

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According to the police, Saini runs a grocery shop in Jaipur, expressed interest in stock market investments, and held a demat account with a private bank since 2020. The alleged fraud began when Saini received a call from Ashish Dubey, claiming to represent Indore-based Ashwini Solutions Consultancy. Dubey convinced Saini to invest in the Futures and Options (F&O) segment, promising handsome returns. Dubey, allegedly operating from an office on Dalal Street in Mumbai, advised Saini to join the Telegram channel of his firm, Ashwini Solution (Premium).

Saini transferred ₹3.15 lakh to the firm’s account for initial investment. Subsequently, Dubey opened a demat account with ‘Alice Blue Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.,’ linked to Saini’s savings account. Saini started trading in Nifty and Nifty 50 through the telegram group as per Dubey’s advice and had deposited ₹20 lakh for trading in the demat account and lost the entire amount, as mentioned in the FIR.

Dubey then persuaded Saini to share OTPs, claiming he could recover losses through further trading. Saini invested an additional ₹48 lakh, resulting in more losses until September 2023. Saini then requested an end to trading and closed the account.

After a week, Ravi Patel from the Mumbai office contacted Saini, requesting his Aadhaar and PAN card details. Patel assured Saini that they would keep a certain limit for investment so he would not face any major losses in the market. Saini transferred ₹1 lakh, monitored by Prashant’s associate and operator Kabir.

Prashant then threatened him and said he needed to settle the account soon and asked him to pay a minimum amount of ₹36 lakh. The victim then transferred ₹35 lakh to the accused saying he had earlier paid ₹1 lakh to him, said a police officer. Despite paying ₹36 lakh, Saini grew suspicious when Prashant insisted on an additional ₹4 lakh. Visiting Mumbai in October, Saini discovered the fraud, realising the accused had no office on Dalal Street. By then, he had lost a total of ₹1.07 crore.

The complainant then approached the MRA Marg police station in Mumbai and narrated the entire incident and after a preliminary enquiry the police registered an offence against the accused.