Cybercrime officials in Rajkot have arrested three men for allegedly providing multiple fraudulent bank accounts to a cybercrime syndicate that orchestrated a Rs1.28 crore stock market investment scam.
The suspects, identified as Ravi Vala, Firoz Dodhiya, and Aqil Belim, were picked up from Rajkot after police traced the money trail from a cyberfraud case involving a fake mobile investment app.
According to Cybercrime Inspector B N Patel, the trio opened approximately 10 bank accounts using the identities of various individuals. These accounts were later handed over to a cyberfraud gang in exchange for commissions. The gang used the accounts to receive and withdraw stolen funds from victims across different locations.
The scam came to light when a businessman filed a complaint stating he was defrauded of Rs1.28 crore. The criminals lured him with promises of high returns on stock market investments and persuaded him to involve others. They then directed him to download a fraudulent mobile application, which falsely displayed increasing profits to gain his trust.
“The fake app kept showing inflated returns, which encouraged the victim to continue investing until he discovered the fraud,” said Inspector Patel.
Investigators revealed that the fraudulent operation involved multiple accounts, making it difficult to trace transactions. Authorities are now working to identify the primary handlers who purchased the accounts from the arrested men and are probing links to other potential gangs.
All three accused are labourers by profession, and police suspect this may not be their first involvement in such schemes.
