The Hyderabad cybercrime police arrested four people from Delhi and Rajasthan for deceiving innocent individuals through fraudulent investments. These individuals provided bank accounts to cyber fraudsters, resulting in a total loss of Rs 1.43 crore in Hyderabad.
The arrested individuals were Krishan Dhaka and Manoj Kumar from Barmer district, Rajasthan, and Ashutosh Raj and Munish Bansal from Delhi. Police seized various items from them, including chequebooks, debit cards, passbooks, UPI scanners, mobile phones, a laptop, and SIM cards.
A victim from Hyderabad reported that the fraudsters contacted him through WhatsApp, posing as representatives of Pantheon Venture Company. They recruited him for trading, created a trading account, and added him to a WhatsApp group called “Aditya Stock Sharing VIP.” The victim was instructed to download an app called PT-VC and invest in IPO stocks. He deposited over Rs 1 crore into the fraudsters’ accounts.
The cybercrime police registered a case and investigated under relevant sections of the law. Similar cases have been reported in other parts of Telangana. The fraudsters used tactics to gain victims’ trust before pressuring them to invest more money.
The accused individuals helped open fake bank accounts and collaborated with cyber fraudsters based in foreign countries. The fraudsters initially provided small profits to victims before disappearing once larger sums were invested. The accused sold bank accounts on commission to prime suspects in other countries.
Authorities identified multiple fake shell company accounts where Rs 22.24 crore was defrauded. Across the country, a total of 171 cases were registered related to these fraudulent activities, including 11 in Telangana with a total defrauded amount of Rs 1.43 crore in Hyderabad.