AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police have arrested five persons, including a doctor, for allegedly running a cyber fraud syndicate that cheated a Surat resident of Rs 2.30 crore through a fake matrimonial profile and a bogus Forex investment scheme.
State Cyber Centre of Excellence SP Dr Rajdeepsinh Zala said the accused created a fake matrimonial profile under the name "Jigyasa Kapoor" to target financially stable victims. After contacting the victim through the Dilsafar app, they gained his trust before introducing a fake Forex investment opportunity.
Police said the victim was initially persuaded to invest Rs 50,000 on the RoboForex trading platform. The accused allegedly showed fake profits and convinced him to invest more. The victim eventually transferred Rs 2.30 crore into multiple bank accounts controlled by the syndicate.
When he tried to withdraw the money, the accused claimed his trading account had been locked and demanded more money to unlock it. The victim later approached the cyber police.
The investigation revealed that the accused had opened bank accounts in the names of other individuals to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds. Police said they also created a shell firm, RP Chemicals, and used its bank accounts to route the money through multiple accounts.
Investigators found through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) that one of the bank accounts had figured in 31 cyber fraud complaints across the country. Police said the linked cases involved frauds worth more than Rs 3.15 crore, while the same banking channel was allegedly used in transactions connected to frauds worth nearly Rs 15 crore.
Police alleged that Raj Atul Padsalana opened a bank account in the name of RP Chemicals and handed over the banking kit to co-accused Yagnik Ashok Ramani for a commission. Jaideepkumar Batuklal Aardesana alias Doctor, who runs a clinic in Upleta, allegedly acted as an intermediary and connected the syndicate with Laxman Vaghela through Pankaj Paswan in Delhi.
Another accused, Sarfaraz, allegedly arranged for the bank account kit to be transported to Nepal, where it was used to channel the proceeds of cyber fraud.
Police arrested all five accused and seized seven mobile phones, an Aadhaar card, a bank passbook and other material linked to the case.
The investigation is continuing to identify other beneficiaries, trace the money trail and determine whether more victims were targeted using the same fake matrimonial profile and Forex investment model.
