Hyderabad: Five more persons arrested for duping woman of Rs 3.16 crore on pretext of stock market trade

AV Ranganath, Joint Commissioner (Crimes) said the victim had fallen prey to a gang who sent her messages luring her to invest in a company ‘Unity Stock’ and assured 100 per cent high returns on the investment component

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cyber Crime police arrested five more persons who allegedly duped a woman of Rs. 3.16 crore on the pretext of stock market trade on Saturday. Another suspect, Ronak Tanna, was arrested by the police in December and remanded. The arrested persons are Swamy, Timaniya, Brijesh Patel, Harsh Pandya and Shankar Lal, all from Gujarat.

AV Ranganath, Joint Commissioner (Crimes) said the victim had fallen prey to a gang who sent her messages luring her to invest in a company ‘Unity Stock’ and assured 100 per cent high returns on the investment component. Some people claiming to be experts pretended to guide her with the investment into fake companies dealing with IPOs and gaming websites.

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“The woman transferred an amount of Rs 3.16 crore to the accounts provided by the fraudsters. The money was transferred from the fraudster accounts to Dubai, Hong Kong and other foreign countries. Later, it is re-routed to India through hawala channels,” explained Ranganath.

The amount the woman transferred to the fraudsters belonged to her parents who in their bid to clear loans had sold some assets and deposited them in her account. The victim thought about multiplying the amounts and helping the family who had planned to invest in the stock market and fell prey to the fraud.

Ranganath said that Swayam, Timaniya and Brijesh convinced Pandya who runs a cash management service to help them for a commission. The amount collected from the victims was transferred to the accounts of Pandya and later routed to some hawala agents in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Shankar Lal, later sent the amounts to Dubai and again it was rerouted into India, said the official.

The police asked the public not to fall victims of trade frauds and thoroughly verify the companies before making investments.