A 34-year-old man from Dubai was recently arrested for cheating a Navi Mumbai resident of Rs1.23 crore by convincing him to invest in fake share trading schemes. The accused, identified as Kaushikkumar Kalyanbhai Italia, is suspected to be the mastermind behind at least 60 cyber frauds reported across India.
The arrest occurred on June 26 at Surat airport, where Italia was detained as he arrived from Dubai. His arrest followed a lookout notice issued by the Navi Mumbai cyber police. During the investigation, the police successfully recovered Rs43.31 lakh from Italia.
The fraud came to light when Satish Khurana, a 56-year-old contractor from Nerul, lodged a complaint with the Navi Mumbai cyber police on November 21, 2023. Khurana alleged that he had been duped of Rs1.23 crore in August 2023 after being lured into a fake share trading scheme.
According to Khurana’s complaint, on August 6, he received a call from a woman claiming to be a representative of a leading bank. The caller informed him about a WhatsApp group that provided share trading tips, promising huge returns in a short period. Over the next few months, Khurana was instructed to transfer large sums of money into various accounts, but by November 13, he realized that the promised returns never materialized.
Senior Inspector Gajanan Kadam of the Navi Mumbai cyber police station confirmed that Italia was the mastermind behind this elaborate fraud, which is part of a larger scheme involving multiple victims across India.