Noida police arrests two in ₹5.6 cr investment fraud case

The victim alleged she was added to a WhatsApp group where fraudsters lured her with promises of high profits through share market trading.

Noida Police on Friday arrested two men for allegedly assisting a cyber fraud racket that duped a woman of ₹5.6 crore in the pretext of high returns on market investments.

The accused were arrested for providing their bank accounts to cybercriminals in exchange for commission, said police.

The accused, identified as Sahab Singh and Neeraj (single name), both residents of Meerut district, were arrested for providing their bank accounts to cybercriminals in exchange for commission, said police.

“They are mule account holders, who provide their bank accounts to the main perpetrators for a commission,” said Shavya Goyal, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Cybercrime Branch.

On October 30, Reena Tiwari, a resident of Sector 50, Noida, registered an FIR, saying she was added to a WhatsApp group where fraudsters lured her with promises of high profits through share market trading.

“I have paid approximately ₹5.6 crore and received only ₹10,500 as a token withdrawal. These transactions were made from my verified bank accounts through various online platforms to different beneficiary accounts provided by the fraudsters,” the FIR read.

The ADCP added that 22 complaints linked to fraud have been registered against Singh’s bank account on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). “We are still looking for the actual criminals behind the operation,” she said.

Police said that ₹65,27,404 was deposited into Singh’s account, which he later withdrew and handed over to Neeraj for a commission.

A third accused, Charanjeet (single name), has also been identified. “He appears to be the mule account provider. According to the arrested suspects, he is the link between the account holders and cyber criminals,” Goyal added.

The accused have been booked under sections 318(4) property obtained through fraudulent means and 319(2) cheating by personation of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66D of the IT Act. Police said further investigation is underway to trace the masterminds behind the scam.