Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) Two persons have been arrested for allegedly providing their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters who cheated an 87-year-old retired Maharashtra health department official of Rs 5.10 crore under the pretext of high returns on share trading, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Ashraf Alam Imran Karmatali and his associate, were nabbed from suburban Andheri by Cyber Cell (North Regional Division) officials.
The complainant, a resident of Malad, received a phone call in July from a woman who added him to a WhatsApp group operating in the name of a private firm where share recommendations and market information were regularly shared, police said.
Lured by promises of attractive returns, the elderly man transferred Rs 5.10 crore into specified bank accounts.
On the trading platform, his portfolio purportedly showed profits totalling Rs 32.05 crore. However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds, the transactions failed repeatedly. The fraudsters subsequently demanded additional money for an IPO purchase and insisted on a 10 per cent commission payment before permitting any withdrawal.
Realising he had been cheated, the victim reported the matter to the national cybercrime portal and the North Regional Division Cyber Cell. Police registered an FIR against unidentified cyber criminals under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
During technical analysis of the money trail, investigators traced a portion of the defrauded amount to Mohammad Ashraf’s account in Andheri, an official said.
His interrogation showed that Ashraf and his associate aided the primary syndicate by allowing them to use their bank accounts and routing the proceeds of the crime to the main perpetrators.
A local court remanded them to police custody.
Further investigation is underway to identify the key operators of the cyber fraud ring and trace the remaining funds, the official added. PTI ZA NSK
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