Ahmedabad: The promise of brokerage-free share trading and daily returns of up to 20% allegedly cost an investor Rs 67.9 lakh. His complaint led Ahmedabad cybercrime branch to arrest four men who allegedly supplied bank accounts to a network that routed money linked to online share market investment frauds to Dubai. Police said more than 80 cybercrime complaints from 15 states were traced to the accounts recovered during the investigation, with transactions exceeding Rs 50 crore.The case was registered after a complainant was allegedly lured into investing through two fake apps: JB X One and ID-QSB. The accused reportedly contacted the victim through multiple WhatsApp numbers and claimed that JB X One did not charge brokerage fees.To make the operation appear genuine, the fraudsters allegedly sent the victim a forged certificate carrying the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s name, logo and seal. The victim subsequently invested Rs 47.1 lakh through the app.Later, a woman posing as an ICICI Securities representative allegedly offered returns of 5% to 20% a day through block trading. The victim was persuaded to download ID-QSB and invest another Rs 20.8 lakh, police said.The application displayed a fictitious balance of Rs 74.3 lakh. When the victim tried to withdraw the money, the fraudsters allegedly demanded 20% short-term capital gains tax and a 4% health and education cess. The victim then realised the investments and profits shown on the platforms were fabricated. The total loss was Rs 67.9 lakh.Based on technical evidence and human intelligence, the cybercrime branch arrested Irfan Shaikh, 41, of Bavamanpura in Vadodara; Soheb Jojavarwala, 37, of Shalimar Park in Vadodara; Shehzad Ajmerwala, 35, of Moti Sodagar ni Pol in Jamalpur, Ahmedabad; and Ishtiyak Riyawala, 38, of Rukhanpura near Astodia Darwaza in Ahmedabad.According to police, the accused allegedly operated as links in a chain that supplied bank accounts to the fraud network. Shaikh allegedly handed over his bank account to Jojavarwala in return for a commission. Jojavarwala allegedly collected more than five accounts, including Shaikh’s and others’, and passed them to Ajmerwala.Ajmerwala allegedly sourced additional bank accounts and transferred them to Riyawala, who is suspected of playing a key role in sending the accounts to operators based in Dubai. Police said Riyawala was found with more than 30 bank-account kits.
