Seven held by Delhi police for duping man of Rs 91 lakh in crypto fraud

New Delhi: Delhi police has arrested seven people, including a contractual bank employee, for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 91 lakh on the pretext of higher returns in stocks and crypto trading, officials said on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Ajay, Mohit, Shankar (contractual bank employee), Partyaksh Koshar, Manish Jawla, Shrayance Pandit and Dinesh, would open bank accounts on fictitious addresses and sell them to other cyber fraudsters, they said.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Hemant Tiwari of the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police said that a man filed a complaint of being cheated of Rs 91 lakh on the pretext of receiving higher returns in stocks and crypto trading.

“The complainant was added to a messaging group where perpetrators were giving stock recommendations. Upon persuasion of cyber crooks, the complainant opened an account on a website and transferred Rs 91 lakh in 19 different accounts,” the DCP said.

When the victim felt cheated, he approached the police, which then registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and began probing the matter, police said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police was investigating another case of cyber fraud where they had identified one such account and subsequently frozen it. The accused allegedly sent an e-mail to the bank manager, impersonating the investigative officer of the IFSO unit and asking him to immediately “de-freeze” the said account.

“During the investigation, all suspected bank accounts involved in the crime were frozen by the bank on the directions of the police. After analysis of bank accounts, it was found that one of the accounts, which was registered in the name of Gaurav Trading, had Rs 46 lakh as available balance, and the same was immediately seized,” DCP said.

However, days later, the bank manager informed the police that the bank had received a notice from an e-mail ID similar to the government e-mail ID of the Investigating Officer (IO), appearing to be fake or forged, asking them to de-freeze the account, DCP Tiwari said.

“When we technically analysed the said e-mail, it was observed that the de-freezing notice was sent using proton mail,” the officer said, adding a separate team was formed to identify and apprehend the accused.

After days of investigation by following the digital footprints, the police identified and arrested two of the accused, Ajay and Mohit. Later, Shankar, Partyaksh Koshar, Manish Jawla, Shrayance Pandit and Dinesh were also arrested, DCP said.

The police have recovered Rs 5.5 lakh from their possession. Further investigation is underway, DCP added.