BENGALURU: The CID investigation into a Rs 3.10 crore cheating case in the guise of online trading revealed that one of the accused, Shivakumar S (28) from Mysuru, purchased a farmhouse in the name of his lover-accused Disha at Hagara in Virajpet and had settled there.
He used local youngsters to open accounts in different banks and used them to defraud his victims. These were the facts raised by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to oppose anticipatory bail to Shivakumar, a resident of Mandi Mohalla, and his girlfriend Disha (27), residing at Lokanayaka Nagar in Mysuru.
Shivakumar’s victim, Samson John, had filed a complaint at the East CEN Crime police station in Bengaluru, stating that some unknown persons had contacted him through Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp, representing themselves as trading brokers and convinced him to transact through Plus500 Global, a fraudulent trading app. They made him invest Rs 3.10 crore, but refused to refund it.
The probe revealed that in one of the transactions, John had transferred Rs 5.30 lakh into the account of an accused through RTGS. Soon after receiving it, the accused had transferred the money to 15 different accounts the same day. The CID had issued a notice to all the secondary beneficiaries to furnish informatwion.
One of the beneficiaries was an advocate, practising in Delhi, who had received Rs 5 lakh. He told the CID sleuths that the money was toward his legal fee from Shivakumar, who was also involved in another case of cyber fraud at a court at Mysuru.
The CID found that Shivakumar had shared the details of accounts, which had been opened by local youngsters, with those residing in foreign countries. Shivakumar visited Dubai regularly and carried account kits with him to share with his victims.
Shivakumar was trading in cryptocurrency. When the police searched his premises, they recovered a laptop, mobiles, hard disc, debit & credit cards belonging to 30 different banks. All of it was seized on April 16, 2026.
Shivakumar has nine accounts in his name, 12 accounts in the name of his companion Disha. Nine accounts belong to different persons.
Judge rejects plea of accused
Noting that evidence collected during the investigation would make out a prima facie case against the accused, Judge Nirmala Devi dismissed the anticipatory bail petitions of Shivakumar and Disha recently.
