New Delhi: The probe into an alleged Rs 500-crore investment scam involving the Hibox mobile application has led Delhi police to a network of high-end offices, a registered company and suspected South Asia-based masterminds, ThePrint has learnt.
Police sources said the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has found that the alleged scam was hatched in December 2022.
At the centre of it is a company named Sutrulla Xpress Private Ltd incorporated in November 2016. Sivaram Jayaraman, 30, is listed as the sole director of this company.
DCP (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari said Jayaraman, the ‘Indian front’ of this scam, has been arrested and influencers including Bollywood celebrities who promoted the app have been summoned. A sum of Rs 18 crore has been seized from bank accounts linked to the accused, he said, adding that police are trying to locate the developer of the app.
“The scam, valued at approximately Rs 500 crore, involved promising high returns on investments, with false assurances of daily interest rates ranging from 1 percent to 5 percent. Many victims were drawn in through the promotion of the app by popular social media influencers and YouTubers,” DCP Tiwari told ThePrint.
“Hibox app was created in February 2024 and started its operations online, but its members started giving movements in April 2024 after YouTube/ influencers promotional videos,” a police source explained further.
On Jayaraman, sources said he is from Chennai and was allegedly acting on the instructions of two South Asia-based conspirators who made an initial investment of Rs 25 lakh in the app. They later invested another Rs 1 crore for the app to gain momentum.
“Sivaram opened bank accounts; around 50 people worked in his company. He even got office spaces leased in the company’s name. He was the front for this scam. The brains behind it are the ones settled abroad,” said a second officer who did not wish to be named.
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Unravelling the ‘Hibox scam’
Delhi police’s investigation into the alleged scam was prompted by two cases. The first was registered by the Special Cell on the basis of 29 complaints, and the second registered by Cyber Police (Northeast division) in August this year on the basis of nine complaints.
In addition to those, 488 similar complaints were received on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in this regard.
Of these complaints, 89 received by Delhi police were clubbed by IFSO and a probe launched into the matter. Police are now trying to verify complaints and identify the more than 30,000 individuals defrauded by the accused.
They are also questioning Hibox employees in connection with the probe.
“Initially, in the first five months, Hibox promised returns of 1 percent on daily basis and 30 percent monthly with a block duration of 24 hours. Since the first week of July (2024), Hibox withheld payments of participants on pretext or the other like technical glitches, legal issues, GST etc.,” said the first police source quoted earlier.
Adding, “From June 2023 onwards they started executing their plans by doing background work like developing the app, getting payment gateways, opening bank accounts, opening front offices etc.”
“They (accused) devised a strategic plan. Initially, one complainant even got Rs 6-7 lakh including returns. However, when he invested again, they didn’t give him any money and even used influencers to say the app has a technical glitch,” the officer said, adding that the amounts paid to influencers by Hibox is also under investigation.
“They would give mystery boxes as gifts instead of returns in some cases. For instance, a speaker worth Rs 10,000. If the market price of that speaker is lower, the user can refuse to take it and instead ask for payment. However, since the first week of July, they gave no returns and also didn’t release the blocked amount,” the officer explained further.
It is learnt that Sutrulla Xpress Private Ltd, the company behind Hibox, also employed Noida-based companies to handle its finances.
“They dealt in laundering the looted money. After the release of funds were stopped, the companies shut their offices in Noida. However, till after the FIRs were lodged, the HiBOX website was still operational,” said the officer, adding that the police are also investigating the money laundering angle of this whole operation.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)