Major Cyber Fraud Network Busted in Ahmedabad, Four Arrested for Dubai Connection

Ahmedabad, October 30 (Daily Kiran) : The Cyber Crime Branch in Ahmedabad has made significant strides in combating cyber fraud, arresting four individuals accused of providing bank accounts to handlers based in Dubai. Investigators uncovered more than 30 bank accounts tied to over 80 complaints of cyber fraud across 15 states, with transactions exceeding ₹50 crore.

These arrests stem from a case where a victim was defrauded of ₹67.92 lakh through two fraudulent investment applications. These apps promised substantial returns from stock market trading.

The suspects have been identified as Irfan Sheikh (41), Soheb Jojawarwala (37), Shahzad Ajmerwala (35), and Ishtiyaq Riyawala (38). Irfan and Soheb are residents of Vadodara, while Shahzad and Ishtiyaq hail from the Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad.

According to the Cyber Crime Branch, the victim was contacted via various WhatsApp numbers and persuaded to invest in an application named ‘JB X One,’ which was falsely claimed to be operated by Julius Baer. The callers assured the victim that there would be no brokerage charges and provided a fake certificate bearing the name, signature, and seal of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to lend credibility to their operation.

The victim invested ₹47.14 lakh through this application. In a separate scheme, a person impersonating ‘Anju Garg’ from ICICI Securities contacted the victim, offering an investment opportunity in ‘block trading’ with promises of 5 to 20 percent returns within a single day.

The victim was also convinced to download another application, ‘ID-QSB,’ and invest ₹20.78 lakh. The platform then displayed a balance of ₹74,32,707.79 from stock transactions. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw funds, the impersonator demanded a 20 percent short-term capital gains tax and an additional 4 percent health and education cess.

Authorities reported that the operators of both applications presented fraudulent electronic information to make the investments appear legitimate. They executed a calculated scheme to defraud the victim of ₹67.92 lakh.

Using technical inputs and intelligence, investigators tracked down those who provided bank accounts for the fraud in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Police revealed that Irfan provided his bank account to Soheb in exchange for a commission.

Soheb allegedly collected his own account, Irfan’s account, and others, then supplied Shahzad with more than five accounts for a fee. Shahzad, in turn, paid Soheb for these accounts and transferred them to Ishtiyaq, who was also involved in identifying account holders and arranging accounts for Ishtiyaq.

Ishtiyaq played a central role in the network, taking accounts from Shahzad and sending them to his associates in Dubai for a commission. The Cyber Crime Branch recovered over 30 bank account kits from Ishtiyaq.

An investigation through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) revealed that these accounts were linked to over 80 complaints across more than 15 states, involving transactions exceeding ₹50 crore. Police are continuing their investigation to uncover the network’s extent and identify additional individuals involved.