In April this year, a US citizen of Indian origin fell victim to an online investment scam and lost two units of Bitcoin worth approximately Rs 1.4 crore crore at the time, plus close to Rs 10 lakh. Pimpri Chinchwad police have arrested two men from rural Kolhapur, including an employee at a mobile phone store, who were allegedly in contact with cyber operatives based in Dubai through a suspect in Mumbai. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station of Pimpri Chinchwad Police following a complaint by the US citizen, who works as a management consultant and was in Pune to attend to a family matter. According to the FIR, the complainant had come across an online advertisement for an investment platform and was interested in investing. Soon after, he began receiving calls from unidentified international numbers. He was persuaded to register on a fraudulent investment website, where the money he transferred appeared as investments with seemingly high returns. Over the course of several days, the complainant was manipulated into making multiple payments, both in Bitcoin and in Indian rupees. While he received small initial returns to build trust, he later realised he had been duped. By the time he understood the fraud, he had lost two units of Bitcoin — valued at Rs 1.44 crore at the time — along with Rs 10 lakh in cash, amounting to a total loss of Rs 1.54 crore. The team from the Cyber crime police station of Pimpri Chinchwad police which had been probing the case, recently received concrete leads about one account used in the fraud. The account was registered in the name of a business entity and was located in Ichalkaranji town of rural Kolhapur. The investigation team found a person identified as Akram Shamsuddin Shaikh had started the business by misusing documents of two residents of the town. It soon became clear Shaikh had opened the account in the name of these two people and had given access of this account to cyber fraudsters higher up the chain. As the investigation team reached Ichalkaranji, they found out that Shaikh had fled the town with an accomplice and was moving towards Mumbai. Following a chase on the Pune Mumbai Expressway, Shaikh (32) and his accomplice Vinay Rathi (34), were caught at Urse toll booth recently. Investigation revealed that while Shaikh used to fraudulently obtain access to bank accounts, Rathi, who for a cell phone shop, used to alter the phone numbers linked to the bank account. The two further gave access of this bank account to a cyber operative in Mumbai, who used to funnel money to international masterminds operating from Dubai, a probe revealed. A search has been launched for the suspect from Mumbai whose identity the police have established. This action was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vinoykumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioner Sarang Avhad, DCP Shivaji Pawar and ACP Vishal Hire. The investigation team consisted of Police Inspector Ravikiran Nale, Assistant Inspector Pravin Swami and Sub Inspectors Vaibhav Patil, Sagar Poman, Rohit Dolas and Prakash Katkade along with constabulary staff.
