North Region Cyber Police have arrested Dhiraj More, a college student, in connection with a massive investment fraud where a 73-year-old man was cheated of nearly Rs 3 crore.
The victim, a chemicals consultant, was lured by fraudsters posing as a former Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) chairman through a WhatsApp group called Future Outlook. The group promoted an over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform, convincing the man to invest large sums with promises of high returns.
Initially investing Rs 20,000 and seeing a small profit, the victim was encouraged to invest a total of Rs 2.9 crore. The fake OTC app falsely showed profits of Rs 25 crore. When he attempted to withdraw Rs 2.9 crore, he was asked to pay Rs 8 lakh as a processing fee, which he paid but received no money back.
Police investigation revealed that Dhiraj More’s role was to recruit people to open bank accounts and hand over their details to the syndicate for a commission. More was arrested from Bandra on May 20. The police are actively searching for his associates.
The case came to light after the victim filed a complaint via the cybercrime helpline. The FIR was registered on May 3. The arrest was made under the supervision of DCP Datta Nalawade and inspectors Sudhakar Humbe and Kiran Aher.
