Gandhinagar, June 29 (IANS) The Gujarat Police’s Cyber Centre of Excellence has arrested five members of a cyber fraud syndicate during the ‘Operation Mule Hunt 2.0’ for allegedly cheating a victim out of Rs 2.30 crore through a fake forex trading investment scheme operated via the platform named RoboForex.

According to the officials, the fraud began after the victim was approached on the Dilsafar application by a person using the name “Jigyasha Kapoor”, who had first established contact through a matrimonial website.

The victim was allegedly persuaded that significant profits could be earned by following forex trading tips provided by the fraudsters.

Police said the accused instructed the complainant to open an account on the RoboForex webpage and initially invest Rs 50,000. “To gain the victim’s confidence, the accused allowed the withdrawal of profits earned on the first investment,” officials said.

After establishing trust, the accused allegedly directed the complainant through Telegram to transfer funds into different bank accounts. The complainant subsequently transferred Rs 1.47 crore.

The trading platform allegedly displayed substantial profits against the investments before the complainant received a message stating that the RoboForex account had been locked.

According to investigators, the accused demanded a further Rs 83 lakh to unlock the account and later sought additional payments on the pretext of withdrawal charges.

Police said that under various false pretexts, the complainant invested a total of Rs 2.30 crore, which was never returned. “All the accused acted together in a criminal conspiracy to cheat the complainant,” officials emphasised.

The investigation revealed that one of the arrested accused, Raj Padsala, allegedly opened a bank account in the name of his firm, R.P. Chemicals, for use in the fraud. Police alleged that he handed over the banking kit to co-accused Yagnik Ramani in exchange for a commission.

“Ramani passed the banking kit through co-accused Dr Jaydipkumar Ardeshna, also known as Doctor Upleta, who operates a clinic in Upleta. Through him, the network allegedly established contact with Laxman Vaghela, who then used Pankaj Paswan to reach a person identified as Rahul in Delhi,” officials detailed.

Police alleged that, through another individual identified as Sarfaraz, the banking kit was ultimately sent to Nepal, where it was used to route and dispose of proceeds generated through cyber fraud.

The complainant’s money was allegedly deposited into the account before being diverted.

Police said verification of the R.P. Chemicals bank account on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) found that it had been linked to 31 cyber fraud complaints registered across India. The total amount involved in those cases exceeds Rs 15.31 crore.

During the operation, investigators seized seven mobile phones and two forged identity documents comprising one Aadhaar card and one PAN card.

The five arrested accused have been identified as Raj Padsala of Anand, described by police as the bank account holder; Yagnik Ramani of Rajkot, identified as a bank account supplier; Laxman Vaghela of Rajkot, also identified as a bank account supplier; Dr Jaydipkumar Ardeshna of Rajkot, identified as a bank account supplier; and Sagar Gokani of Rajkot, identified as a bank account provider.

Further investigation is ongoing in the case.

–IANS

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