Pune: On Monday, the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police apprehended six suspects linked to an online share trading scam that resulted in a jobless man losing Rs 2.80 lakh last week. The suspects utilized mule bank accounts to collect the victim’s funds, which were then transferred through hawala networks in Mumbai and Pune. The operation was led by senior inspector Ravikiran Nale.
Assistant police inspector Pravin Swami from the cyber police informed the media that the victim had been employed in the CCTV division of a well-known software firm in Hinjewadi. After losing his job, he encountered an advertisement for share trading. He was subsequently added to an investor group and instructed to download an app associated with a reputable business group. The victim invested Rs 2.58 lakh, which he ultimately lost to the scammers. He filed a complaint with the cyber police last week.
“While investigating the case, we found that some of the fraud amount was transferred to a firm’s bank account at a bank in Panvel. Upon further scrutiny, we discovered that significant transactions had been made to a bank account in Ghatkopar, Mumbai,” Swami said. “We then took Naresh Chaudhary, the account holder from Ghatkopar, into custody. Chaudhary, who runs a copying shop, revealed the name of another individual. Chaudhary used to withdraw the cash and hand it over to that person.”
The inquiry resulted in the apprehension of five additional suspects, among them Jilani Shaikh, a businessman involved in fabrication from Ghatkopar, as well as online money transfer operators Amit Sahu from Uran, and Irfan Shaikh and Kiran Jethnani, both hailing from Panvel. “We also arrested Makarand Vilegaonkar, the area sales manager of an online digital banking platform from Panvel,” Swami said.
The cyber officer explained that the five arrested suspects had been using various online banking platforms. “They opened distributor, master distributor, and retailer accounts on these platforms. The area manager of one of these platforms assisted them in opening the accounts and received a commission for his involvement,” Swami said. The suspects moved the money obtained via mule bank accounts into a company’s bank account in Panvel, from which it was subsequently redirected to these platforms.
“The suspects received credit points for transferring the amounts to the distributor or retailer accounts on these platforms,” he continued. “These points were then exchanged for cash from a cash management services company. The main suspect, who is still on the run, then sent the cash to his handlers via hawala.”
Preliminary investigations have revealed that transactions totaling over Rs 80 lakh were conducted by the suspects. “We are questioning hawala operators from Pune and Mumbai to track down the main suspect and his handlers,” Swami added.
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