Five held in 54.6L share-trading fraud | Pune News

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad police’s Cybercrime branch has arrested five individuals in connection with a share-trading scam, where a victim was allegedly cheated out of Rs 54.60 lakh. The accused used mule bank accounts to launder the illicit funds, depositing and withdrawing money from various locations.Police identified the accused as Poonam Jain (42) and Ganesh Dhole (28) from Madhya Pradesh, Rajesh Kushwaha, Pradip Kane and Harishid Ghotan from New Delhi. “We have found that these suspects diverted money into various bank accounts and later withdrew it. These bank accounts are in Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi. We sent our teams to these places and arrested them,” an officer said.Police said the prime accused, operating under the guise of a lucrative stock trading platform, lured victims with promises of high returns before siphoning off their funds. “One complainant alone was defrauded of Rs 54.6 lakh after being manipulated into repeatedly investing via an app between July 2 and 9. The complainant initially deposited a small amount, which appeared to yield returns. Encouraged by these fake profits, he continued investing until the app stopped functioning and his access was blocked,” the officer said.Investigations showed that the accused created multiple shell firms and bank accounts to launder the funds. Police have frozen suspicious bank transactions and are tracking down digital footprints linked to the suspects. “The accused projected his trading app as a legitimate one using sophisticated online marketing. Many investors were sent fake dashboards showing growing profits. But once large sums were deposited, the app would become inaccessible or crash entirely,” the officer said.“Those who believe they may have fallen victim to similar scams are urged to contact the Pimpri Chinchwad Cyber Police,” deputy commissioner Shivaji Pawar said.