DUO HELD FOR DUPING BIZMAN OF ₹6.27 CRORE

MUMBAI: The Western Cyber Police arrested two from Pune in connection with cyber fraud in which a businessman was duped of ₹6.27 crore in a stock market investment con. The police said that the accused created a fake app and lured the victim with high returns from investment in the share market.

The police have frozen 159 bank accounts having a total amount of ₹1.40 crore and seized ₹80 lakh from the bank account of the accused.

The arrested accused are identified as Vikas Chavan, 43, a driver by profession, and Pradeep Krishna Lad, 32, who worked as an estate agent. Both are residents of Pune. But during investigation it was found that Chavan is the proprietor of Shanti Enterprises and ₹80 lakh was transferred to the company’s bank account by cyber fraud. Chavan was the holder of the account which was given to Lad to handle the bank account. Both had used the money.

According to the police, a 63-year-old wine shop owner from Bandra, Mumbai, fell victim to a cyber scam after clicking on a social media ad promoting stock trading with Goldman Sachs. He joined a Whatsapp group called ‘13 Goldman Sach Stock pull-up,’ led by an individual named Ashley, who claimed to be an assistant to Goldman Sachs’ director.

Following Ashley’s guidance, the victim invested ₹6.27 crore between January and March, trusting the group’s advice. However, when he attempted to withdraw his profits, Ashley evaded him. The victim reported the incident to Cyber police on March 30, leading to an investigation that revealed the funds were distributed across 159 bank accounts. Authorities froze ₹1.40 crore and traced an additional ₹80 lakh to one of the accused’s accounts.

A police team discovered that both suspects had been arrested by Pune police for a similar cyber fraud. Subsequently, they obtained a production warrant from the court and took custody of the suspects from Pune on Thursday.

The duo was brought to Mumbai and produced in the court and remanded in police custody till April 6.