Navi Mumbai duo held in Rs 3.7 cr share market scam

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Two people, including a hotel waiter, have been arrested in Navi Mumbai for allegedly cheating people of more than Rs 3.70 crore on the pretext of online share market investment, police said on Monday.

The duo, Salman Nizamuddin Khan, 35, the waiter, and Prakash Karamsi Bhanushali, 39, both from Navi Mumbai, were also involved in another case of fraud, said senior inspector Gajanan Kadam of the cyber police in an official release.

The police, with the help of banks, have frozen Rs 46,00,000 of ill-gotten money which was deposited in different accounts by the accused, said the release.

Between February 17 and April 24, the accused lured investors into share trading by promising them lucrative returns. They cheated the victims to the tune of Rs 3,70,06,000 during the period, said the police.

An FIR was registered based on a complaint lodged by some of the victims against unidentified people with the cyber police under relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act, said senior inspector Kadam.

During their probe, the police got a tip-off that two men involved in the crime were coming to a co-operative bank's branch in Turbhe to open an account. They laid a trap at the bank and nabbed the duo on May 31, said the release.

After their interrogation, the police came to know that hotel waiter Khan and his accomplice Bhanushali were also involved in cheating people in need of urgent money.

The duo would promise to arrange money by convincing unsuspecting individuals to submit documents required for opening a bank account. They would then use these documents to obtain SIM cards in their name and also get Gumasta and Udyam certificates which are needed for setting up businesses and ventures, said the police.

The duo opened fictitious current accounts under the names of different companies and forwarded the bank account details of victims to their associates in Dubai in return for good money, said the release.

The arrested men were also involved in crimes in other states such as Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it said.

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