Hyderabad : In a significant breakthrough, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have apprehended five individuals involved in a stock market trading fraud, where they duped a woman of Rs 3.16 crore by falsely promising lucrative returns on investments.
The arrested suspects, identified as Swayam Timaniya, Meet Timaniya, Brijesh Patel, Harsh Pandya, and Shankar Lal, were allegedly part of a scheme that enticed the victim with promises of substantial returns by investing in the stock market. The elaborate ruse involved encouraging the complainant to deposit funds into various stock market and gaming websites, including Dafabet, Unity Exchange, and T20 IPL, under the pretext of securing high returns.
The complaint, filed in November 2023 by a resident of Hyderabad, detailed how the accused individuals persuaded her to invest a significant sum of Rs 3,16,34,764 into specified bank accounts.
The Cyber Crime Police in Hyderabad registered a case (Cr. No. 2495/2023) and initiated an investigation. One of the accused, Ronak Tanna, identified as an account supplier, was apprehended on December 31, 2023. Subsequent inquiries revealed that the fraudulently obtained funds were funneled through Indian accounts and eventually into Angadia (Hawala) channels.
All five accomplices, who were aiding the main accused individuals Arjun and Yug in laundering the ill-gotten money through hawala, were arrested in Ahmedabad and Gandhi Nagar in the state of Gujarat. The police seized a net cash amount of Rs 8 lakhs, along with one laptop and 12 mobile phones from their possession.
This successful operation marks a significant step towards curbing cybercrime and protecting investors from fraudulent schemes. The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police continue their efforts to maintain the integrity of financial transactions and safeguard the public from such scams.
—Input from Agencies