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9 held for duping scores in ₹16 crore invest fraud
The accused were caught from Kerala, UP, Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh after a month-long operation and raids. Police said they were involved in making social media accounts to cheat the victims and also provided bank accounts to receive cheated funds.
The Delhi Police arrested nine men from five different states for allegedly running an investment fraud and cheating hundreds of victims of more than ₹16 crores, said police Thursday.
The accused were caught from Kerala, UP, Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh after a month-long operation and raids. Police said they were involved in making social media accounts to cheat the victims and also provided bank accounts to receive cheated funds.
According to police, one of the complainants came forward in September stating details of an investment fraud in which the accused lured multiple individuals on social media platforms and impersonated investment companies. They assured returns to the victims but cheated all the victims of lakhs of rupees. The complainant was cheated of ₹21 lakhs.
Police said that during investigation, more that 286 similar NCRP complaints cropped up against the same set of accused. A senior police officer said, “A detailed technical analysis and money trail examination were conducted. The complainant provided screenshots of transactions, which revealed that the cheated amount was routed through multiple beneficiary accounts. It was found that significant transactions were routed through accounts maintained in a private bank and a nationalised bank. The accounts were all in Mangalore. The linked mobile number was also registered in the same name”
The other complainants, some based in Delhi, were cheated of ₹2-25 lakhs, said the police.
Police said the accounts were linked to a man named Shoukat Ali. A team led by Inspector Vikas Buldak was sent to conduct raids to catch Ali. Police said he was caught in Kerala.
After Ali’s arrest, police said three more teams were sent and eight others were held based on technical surveillance of the accounts.
DCP (west) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said two other accused Mohd. Adnan Raza and Devender Pandey were tasked with arranging agents and opening bank accounts in their names.
He said, “The main operators, operating from abroad, controlled these accounts. The cheated amount was rotated through multiple accounts to mislead the investigation and evade detection. Ali was making transactions worth ₹11 crores using business accounts. Another accused, Babu Pynadath, also from Kerala, was operating any company and received over ₹2 crores.”
Police said other accused were held from UP, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh with 11 mobile phones, ATM cards, cheque books and passbooks
