The Cyber Cell of Pimpri-Chinchwad Police has busted an international racket of fraudsters and arrested five accused who are part of the Hong Kong-based fraud racket. The accused allegedly siphoned more than Rs 4 crore obtained by defrauding residents of the Pimpri-Chinchwad area through cryptocurrency. The arrested accused have been identified as Junaid Mukhtar Qureshi (21, residing in Tingre Nagar, Pune), Salman Mansoor Shaikh (22, residing in Indira Nagar, Lohgaon Road, Pune), Abdul Aziz Ansari (23, residing in Indira Nagar, Lohgaon Road, Pune), Akif Anwar Arif Anwar Khan (29, residing in Kondhwa Khurd, Pune), and Taufiq Ghaffar Shaikh (22, residing in Indira Nagar, Lohgaon Road, Pune).
Deputy Commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad Crime Branch Sandeep Doifode stated, “A woman from Susgaon had reported a fraud on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), and accordingly, a case was registered at Hinjewadi Police Station. A parallel investigation of this crime was being conducted by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Cell.”“The complainant saw an advertisement on Instagram regarding stock market classes and stock market investments. She clicked on the link as she was willing to learn stock investments. After following the instructions, the complainant was joined in a WhatsApp group. The unknown accused sent a form for withdrawal of the institutional Demat account. After that, the accused took Rs. 31 lakh 60 thousand from the plaintiff in different bank accounts to buy the IPO of the new companies entering the share market. It is mentioned in the complaint that when the complainant asked for the invested amount back after a few days, the accused took another Rs. 4 lakh from her.”
While investigating this crime, the cyber cell conducted a technical analysis of the bank accounts to which the complainant sent the money. Accordingly, the police identified the accused who were handling the bank account and arrested five people involved in the crime. Seven mobile phones, a cash counting machine, eight debit cards, 12 checkbooks, one passbook, and Rs. 7 lakh in cash were seized from them.As many as 120 bank account details on which the accused received money from various frauds were recovered from the accused. According to the police, after receiving the money in the bank account, the accused withdrew the money and then transferred it to Hong Kong via a USDT cryptocurrency account. The primary investigations have revealed that the accused have now transferred more than Rs. four crore to their kingpin in Hong Kong through crypto.The investigation revealed that the mastermind Greg resides in Hong Kong and operates a gang of fraudsters indulging in online fraud and cybercrime.The accused allegedly create online advertisements and links for social media from Hong Kong, and when the victim clicks on the link, they start getting calls and messages immediately on their mobile number from criminals posing as stock market investors and investment gurus who gain the trust of the victims and convince them to invest in a Ponzi share market scheme, claiming it to be safe and profitable.The fraudsters then defraud the victim for lakhs of rupees on the pretext of investment. These funds are drawn from local bank accounts.
At the local level, some activists foot soldiers like Juned and his accomplice lure common citizens with money, take their bank account details, and charge them with fraudulent amounts, and the money is immediately withdrawn as soon as it is deposited in the bank account.It is then converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to Hong Kong. The foot soldiers and local fraudsters work on a commission basis to defraud people. The Pimpri Chinchwad Cyber Cell has arrested the five accused involved in online fraud and suspects that more than 100 people have been duped by the accused while further probe is underway. This action was taken under the guidance of Commissioner of Police Vinay Kumar Choubey, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doifode, Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Vishal Hire, Senior Police Inspector Santosh Patil, Assistant Police Inspector Praveen Swamy, Police Sub-Inspector Sagar Poman, Police Constables Nitesh Bichewar, Atul Lokhande, Srikanth Kabule, Krishna Gawli, Rajnish Taru, Saurabh Ghate, Asha Sanap, and Eshwari Ambhare.