Delhi Police bust online investment fraud syndicate, 5 held

PTI, Dec 31, 2024, 6:52 PM IST

Representative image (source: Pexels)

New Delhi: Delhi Police has busted an online investment fraud syndicate and arrested five people in the case, an official said on Tuesday.

The syndicate, responsible for duping victims by promising high returns on investments, was found to have defrauded a complainant of Rs 19.27 lakh. It was later linked to transactions exceeding Rs 2.5 crore across multiple states, the official said.

The case came to light when a complainant from Sadh Nagar approached the Cyber Police Station on October 18. She reported being contacted in July by a woman posing as a lead analyst offering profitable investment guidance, police said.

Persuaded by stock tips and virtual training, the victim installed an application and was assured over 100 per cent returns on investments.

“Initially, she invested Rs 1 lakh but was later coerced into contributing Rs 10 lakh towards a fabricated Initial Public Offering (IPO). Eventually, the syndicate defrauded her of Rs 19.27 lakh,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary said.

The officer said that an FIR was registered and further investigation was initiated. The police team tracked the money trail and the funds were traced to a private bank in Ludhiana, Punjab, registered under a fake firm owned by one of the accused, Ravit Kumar (29).

The team later arrested Kumar, Swarnpreet Singh (34), Manpreet Singh (42), from Ludhiana, Jaspal (24), from Sangrur and Vansh Gupta (23), from Jammu, a commerce graduate managing accounts and cryptocurrency transactions. “The funds were transferred to international accounts, including those in Dubai. Interrogations revealed that Jaspal Singh and Vansh Gupta collaborated with two Dubai-based fraudsters, Amandeep Singh and Prabsimran Singh, who remain at large. These individuals allegedly partnered with Chinese nationals to orchestrate scams targeting Indian victims. The arrest of the accused has not only resolved the complainant’s case but also linked the syndicate to 68 complaints from various states,” said the DCP.