Navi Mumbai man duped of Rs 1.36 cr in share trading fraud

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A 48-year-old Navi Mumbai man allegedly lost Rs 1.36 crore to cyber fraudsters who lured him to invest in share trading, police said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI.

Based on a complaint, a case under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act has been registered at the cyber police station against two persons and an organisation named Angel One, an official said, reported PTI.

A probe has been initiated, but no arrests have been made so far, senior inspector Gajanan Kadam said, reported PTI.

According to the police, the share trading fraud occurred between January 20 and March 13.

The accused contacted the Navi Mumbai man, a resident of Jui Nagar, on WhatsApp and provided him with information on share trading and assured him of substantial returns on his investment, he said, reported PTI.

The complainant was asked to transfer Rs 1.36 crore into different bank accounts for investing in the stock market, the official said, reported PTI.

However, when the complainant did not receive any money from the accused, he realised that he had been cheated in share trading fraud and approached the police, he said.

In another case, two directors and a person from the management of an import-export company in Navi Mumbai have been arrested for allegedly duping investors from different parts of Maharashtra of Rs 26 crore, police said on Saturday, reported PTI.

Based on a complaint, the police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the IPC and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 1999, an official said, reported PTI.

The police on Friday arrested Nitin Parte and Deepak Surve, directors of the import-export company and Sachin Bhise, who is part of the management, while another accused involved in the crime is absconding, assistant police inspector Nileshkumar Mahadik of the APMC police station said, reported PTI.

They had allegedly been duping the victims since March 2022, he said.

The accused lured more than 300 people from different parts of the state to invest in their business of procuring spices and dry fruits directly from cultivators and exporting them, the official said, reported PTI.

They allegedly assured the investors a monthly interest of 5 per cent and promised to return the invested amount after 11 months, but failed to make any payments and issued cheques that were dishonoured, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)