The West region cyber police have arrested two men from Gujarat for renting a bank account and using it to defraud an investor of Rs1.92 crore. The victim, a share market trader, was persuaded by the accused to invest through their company with promises of high returns.
In 11 transactions, the victim transferred Rs1.92 crore, believing his investment and profit had grown to Rs7.64 crore on a fake webpage. When he attempted to withdraw the “profit,” he was blocked.
The arrested individuals are Sawan Dineshbhai Gonadalia (30), owner of an imitation jewellery shop in Rajkot, and Tushar Ukeshbhai Vagasia (40), a scrap dealer. Investigators found that Gonadalia received Rs6 lakh in his account, which he had rented out to Vagasia in exchange for commission.
The fraud occurred between July 21 and August 28, with an FIR filed on September 3. The case was investigated under the supervision of DCP (Cyber) Purushottam Karad, with a team including Senior Inspector Suvarna Shinde, Assistant Inspector Dr Nitin Gacche, and Sub Inspector Vijay Ghorpade. The duo was arrested in Rajkot by a team led by Gacche and officers Sangram Jadhav, Mayur Ingale, and Rakesh Shinde.
The victim had been added to a WhatsApp group discussing share market tips. The group admin, Ankit Ghosh, falsely claimed to work in a bank’s capital market funds department and assured the victim that their company was SEBI-registered. Another accused, Kirtan Mehta, posed as the company’s analyst. When the victim tried to withdraw the “profit,” he was asked to deposit 10% to access it, which raised suspicions and led him to approach the police.
The cyber police have seized evidence and are continuing to probe the flow of funds and the operations of the fake investment network.
