Mumbai: Businessman Held for ₹47 Lakh Cryptocurrency Scam, Duped Entire Family with Promise of High Returns

The Samta Nagar Police have arrested a wanted businessman who allegedly duped five members of a single family of nearly ₹47 lakh by promising lucrative returns on cryptocurrency investments. The accused, identified as Karthik Sharma (33), was absconding and has now been remanded to police custody after his arrest. Preliminary investigations suggest that Sharma has defrauded multiple investors across Mumbai and Pune to the tune of crores of rupees.

The complainant, Ashish Narula, a share market consultant residing in Thakur Village, Kandivali, came into contact with Sharma during a party in September 2024 through a mutual friend. Sharma introduced himself as an entrepreneur and owner of a consultancy firm involved in cryptocurrency investments. He claimed that his company had invested heavily in crypto assets and was generating substantial returns.

Trusting these claims, Narula was lured into investing through Sharma’s firm. He was promised a monthly return of ₹86,255 on an initial investment of ₹3 lakh, along with a bonus of ₹7,000. By October 2024, Sharma had built a friendly rapport with Narula and even invited him to his office, where around 8 to 10 employees were seen working—further establishing his credibility.

Encouraged by the supposed professionalism, Narula, along with his wife, father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law, gradually invested a total of ₹93 lakh between 22 November 2024 and 25 March 2025. Out of this amount, Sharma repaid ₹46 lakh as returns. However, the remaining ₹47 lakh, along with the promised interest, remained unpaid.

By March 2025, payments from Sharma stopped completely. When Narula followed up, Sharma kept giving excuses. As suspicions grew, the family began investigating Sharma’s background and discovered that he had allegedly defrauded several others in Pune as well using similar tactics.

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, Sharma stopped answering calls, switched off his phone, and disappeared—shutting down both his home and office. He also deactivated all his social media accounts.

Following this, in May 2025, Ashish Narula filed an official complaint at the Samta Nagar Police Station. Based on the complaint, police registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against Sharma and launched a search operation. After being on the run for nearly a month, Sharma was finally traced and arrested.

Investigations have revealed that Karthik Sharma may have cheated multiple people across Mumbai and Pune, and the total fraud amount is estimated to run into several crores. Police are currently interrogating Sharma to identify other victims and trace the siphoned funds.