Three individuals have been apprehended in Gautam Budh Nagar for their alleged involvement in a ₹2.54 crore online trading scam that targeted a retired government officer. The suspects enticed the victim to invest money in a forex trading website, promising substantial returns. The primary suspect, who accessed the bank accounts from Dubai, remains unidentified and at large. Investigations have revealed that the gang established multiple fraudulent businesses and bank accounts in Delhi over the past two years. The arrested suspects are facing charges of cheating, forgery, and violations of relevant sections of the IT Act.
The Gautam Budh Nagar cybercrime police arrested three individuals on Tuesday for reportedly defrauding a retired government officer in Noida of ₹2.54 crore through an online trading scam, as per police reports on Wednesday.
According to law enforcement, the victim, Anil Sharma, a retired central government official, was lured into investing in a forex trading website called www.lexatrade.com.
“The fraudsters contacted him through a video call and persuaded him to double his investments. To gain Sharma’s trust, they initially returned ₹15 lakh to his bank account. Sharma then invested more money, but he received no returns and ultimately lost ₹2.54 crore,” explained Reeta Yadav, in charge of the Cyber Crime police station.
An FIR was filed in the case on March 24, following a complaint by Sharma at the Cyber Crime police station.
The three arrested suspects on Tuesday were identified as Vijay Sharma (56), Hemant Singharia (30), and Tarun Kashyap (35), all residents of Delhi.
During the investigation, it was discovered that the bank accounts to which the defrauded money was transferred were accessed from Dubai by the primary suspect, who has yet to be identified and apprehended.
“The police investigation uncovered that the gang rented some shops in Delhi and registered fake businesses at those addresses. They then opened bank accounts in the name of these businesses. When the GST number for each firm was examined, it was found that 15 to 20 bank accounts had been opened. In the past two years, the suspects established a total of 150 businesses,” the officer stated.
She further revealed that Vijay was responsible for opening the bank accounts, Hemant facilitated the registration of fake businesses for GST, and Tarun was tasked with obtaining GST numbers for the businesses.
“For every account Vijay created, the main suspect in Dubai provided him with ₹1 lakh, which he was responsible for distributing to Hemant and Tarun,” Yadav added.
The suspects are facing charges of cheating, forgery, and violations of relevant sections of the IT Act.
“The suspects were presented before the court on Tuesday and remanded to judicial custody. Further investigation is ongoing,” the officer concluded.
