In a significant crackdown on cyber financial fraud, the South Cyber Police arrested Mohammad Kalim Akbar Ali Khan, a 29-year-old man, in connection with a scam amounting to Rs 5.39 crore. The scam was orchestrated through a fraudulent stock investment platform known as Golden Bridge Investment Group.
What has puzzled investigators is Khan’s involvement in 51 separate cases of cyber fraud across India. His account has been flagged in numerous cyber fraud laundering networks, with a staggering turnover of crores of rupees flowing through it. Authorities revealed that Khan’s account had appeared in 51 complaints, with seven instances in Layer 1 and 31 in Layer 2 of fraud laundering networks, indicating its frequent use for moving illicit funds between scam layers. Khan’s account is also under scrutiny in ongoing investigations in both the North and East Cyber Police divisions.
Khan, a resident of Sakinaka, was taken into custody under various sections, including cheating, forgery, breach of trust, and violations of the Information Technology Act. Police investigations showed that Rs 5 lakh from the defrauded sum was funneled through M/s. Maxmore Payment Digitech Pvt. Ltd., a company registered in Khan’s name. Investigating Officer Nandkumar Gopale stated that Khan was directly involved in accepting and transferring the fraudulently obtained funds.
The complainant in the case, a retired businessman from Malabar Hill, was deceived by a woman named Akriti Desai, whom he met on the dating app Topface. Posing as a successful businesswoman from Noida, Desai befriended the victim through WhatsApp and gradually lured him into investing in the fraudulent trading app, Golden Bridge Investment (formerly known as GEWE).