PANAJI
The Cyber Crime police arrested main accused in Rs 4.74 crore fake investment fraud case in which a retired government officer was duped by fraudsters impersonating a reputed firm.
Details shared by Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Rahul Gupta revealed that one Avishkar Devidas Suradkar of Jalna, Maharashtra has been arrested for the offense and his associate served notice for probe.
"Investigations revealed that Rs 80 lakh was transferred into the accused’s bank account at the initial layer, which was later routed to several other accounts. The same account was found linked to eight other cyber fraud cases reported across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, and Goa, amounting to a cumulative fraud of Rs 13.10 crore," he said.
Police also stated that the investigating sleuths identified Malathi B N, resident of Anjana Nagar, Bangalore for the offense wherein she allegedly received Rs 30 lakh in her bank account and routed the funds further.
Gupta said she has been served notice and directed to cooperate with the investigation.
The case is about a 72-year-old retired government officer who lost Rs 4.74 crore in online investment fraud after falling prey to a fake initial public offering (IPO) scheme promoted through social media.
Details stated that the fraudsters posed as Qualified Institutional Buyers -- professional investors to participate in large share allocations -- and persuaded the victim to transfer substantial sums of money with promises of exceptional returns. “They allegedly convinced him that upfront payments would secure a priority allotment of shares in a forthcoming IPO,” the police said, adding that once the amount was transferred to different bank accounts in various transactions, the impersonators stopped responding to the victim, prompting the latter to seek police help.
