BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch on Friday arrested three persons for their alleged involvement in online trading scam to the tune of over `2 crore.
The accused Bikram Keshari Sahoo, Dinesh Moharana and Sarbanam Sabat, are all natives of Bhubaneswar. They lured the depositors to invest in various trading schemes on the pretext of doubling or tripling their money and returning the principal amount within three months.
The matter came to light after one Sasadhar Mitra of Cuttack lodged a complaint with the EOW alleging he invested `41.30 lakh in 2023 but later realised the accused duped him. Similarly, two other investors - Jayanti Panigrahi and Sukhmay Das lost a total of `1.28 crore in the trading scam.
Investigation revealed the accused received the deposits in their personal bank accounts and those in the names of various companies like Bitox, AEXN Global, Cars Corner, Eclat Coin, Lidona, BK Constructions and Consultancy private limited, among others. Sahoo was the mastermind of the scam and the owner of BK Constructions.
In a bid to lure the investors, the trio had earlier conducted promotional meetings in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as well as at other places in Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. After collecting the money, the accused shut down the websites and mobile applications and fled.