Police said they recovered 13 mobile phones, eight SIM cards, and one laptop used in the racket that duped people by offering fake investment schemes in stocks and IPOs promising high returns.
“The gang was actively duping victims in the name of investment in stocks and IPOs, laundering cheated money through multiple mule accounts and decentralised cryptocurrency wallets. Nearly ₹4.25 crore of cheated money was transferred through mule accounts and crypto wallets handled by the gang against which 15 complaints on the national cybercrime reporting portal were also found,” said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel.
The arrests followed a probe into a case filed in late August, based on a complaint by Raj Choudhary, 50, an IT company executive. Choudhary alleged that he was added to a WhatsApp group that lured him into investing in fake stock schemes.
“Initially, Choudhary received small profits to build trust. Later, he was shown inflated entries and induced to invest larger sums. When he attempted to withdraw his investment, the withdrawals were blocked and he was cheated of ₹10.7 lakh,” Goel said.
Investigators traced the gang through technical surveillance and money trails, arresting Vikram Dhiman from Jind (Haryana), Mukul Hasija from Zirakpur (Punjab), Akshay Sharma from Una (Himachal Pradesh), Hari Kishan Singh from Amritsar, and the alleged handler Mangu Singh from Sikar (Rajasthan).
“Mangu was found to be operating Telegram groups to arrange mule accounts and launder money through cryptocurrency platforms in connivance with foreign-based handlers,” DCP Goel added.