HYDERABAD : Posing as stock brokers at Motilal Oswal, two persons cheated a Hyderabad-based victim to invest Rs 1.03 crore on the promise that they would provide stock market tips and he would earn high returns on investment. The main accused is, however absconding, the police said.
According to the police, the main accused — Berlin — is a foreign national and a resident of Dubai. His Indian accomplices are Bhura Ram and Ramchandra. While both are natives of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, Bhura Ram resided in Dubai. The accused were involved in 507 cases of trading fraud across India, of which 67 cases are registered in Telangana.
The massive scam came to light after a Hyderabad-based victim filed a complaint recently claiming that the cyber fraudsters had contacted him via Telegram and cheated him. They made him believe that he could earn huge profits by investing in the stocks they recommended and made him transfer over Rs 1 crore to the bank accounts provided by them.
Upon investigation, the police found that Ramchandra opened bank accounts in the names of shell companies and supplied them to Bhura Ram for a 5% commission. Bhura Ram then provided the same accounts along with the registered mail ID and SMS alerts to Berlin for 20% commission. Bhura Ram gave a total of 47 bank accounts to Berlin, the police noted.
After the police busted the scam, they issued a look-out circular against Bhura Ram. Learning about this, Bhura Ram tried to return to India from Dubai via Nepal by land so he could avoid getting caught by LOC.
However, he was apprehended by the land immigration on the Nepal border. Both Bhura Ram and Ramchandra have been sent to judicial remand and an LOC is under process to be issued to Berlin.
Among the trading fraud cases in Telangana, which were perpetrated by the accused, the police freezed a total of Rs 1.44 crore and ensured that a victim was refunded Rs 55 lakh through court procedure.