The Cyber Cell of the North Region Cyber Police has busted a gang that duped a senior official of a reputed IT company of nearly Rs 69 lakh by luring him with promises of high returns on share market investments. Police have arrested three individuals in connection with the case. The accused have been identified as Sachin Sawant, Umesh Vishwakarma, and Vibham Mishra. All three have been remanded to police custody by court.
According to the investigation, the gang had opened over 50 bank accounts in the name of fake companies and shared these accounts with cyber fraudsters who used them to carry out online scams. Crores of rupees have reportedly been routed through these accounts, and the accused allegedly received hefty commissions from the fraudsters.
The complainant, a resident of Gorai in Borivali and an employee at a reputed IT firm, is a regular investor in the stock market and operates his own Demat account. In November 2024, while browsing social media for stock-related updates, he came across a link that led him to a supposed share trading company. Soon after, he was added to a WhatsApp group linked to the company.
The group had two administrators — Aishwarya Shastri and Aditya Sharma — and 61 active members. It regularly shared stock market trends and advised members on which stocks to invest in for maximum profit.
A few days later, Aishwarya personally reached out to the complainant, encouraging him to invest through their platform and assuring him of high returns. Trusting her, the complainant invested several lakhs between December 2 and December 17, 2024. Initially, the returns appeared to be excellent, prompting him to try transferring some of the profits to his bank account.
However, despite repeated attempts, he was unable to transfer the funds. When he raised concerns, he was told that additional charges needed to be paid to process the withdrawal. Believing this, he borrowed money from friends and transferred more funds.
In total, he ended up transferring around Rs 69 lakh in hopes of retrieving his investment and profits. But he received neither. Realising he had been scammed, he lodged a complaint with the Cyber Cell of the North Region Cyber Police.
Acting on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Based on technical analysis, they traced and apprehended the accused from Borivali, Kandivali, and Mira Road.
During interrogation, it was revealed that Umesh worked at a private bank, Sachin was a contractor, and Vibham was employed as a security guard. Sachin had opened fake bank accounts using documents belonging to himself and his family. These accounts were then shared with cyber fraudsters. As the scam expanded, he also used documents of friends and acquaintances to open more accounts.
Umesh and Vibham assisted in this operation, and all three received fixed commissions for every account opened and for the funds that were credited to those accounts. Police investigations have revealed that the trio earned lakhs in commissions over the past few months.
A senior official confirmed that the gang’s primary role was to provide verified bank accounts to cyber fraudsters, who later used them for executing large-scale financial scams.
The investigation is ongoing, and police are probing whether more individuals are linked to the racket.