Mangaluru Police bust biggest ever investment fraud operation run from Nepal

Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Police acting on a victim's complaint of Rs 1.38 crore transferred to the accounts of fraudsters ended up busting the biggest-ever investment fraud operation that was being run from Nepal, targeting Indian citizens and cheating them of hundreds of crores of rupees.

"11 accused hailing from different parts of North India who were involved in a large-scale had been arrested," Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H told mediapersons at Commissioner's hall on Thursday.

The accused were part of an organised international fraud network comprising 16 Indian nationals and Chinese nationals. Nepal Police had arrested the Chinese accused, while five Indian accused were still at large and efforts are underway to trace them.

The arrested accused ha been identified as Makwan Vikram (25) of Gujarat, Soumyaditya Chattopadhyay (21) of West Bengal, Pupla Shiva Kumar Rao (32) of Jharkhand, Gaurav Pandey (24) of Uttar Pradesh, Harsh Mishra (22) of Uttar Pradesh, Rajesh Mandan (30) of Jharkhand, Mohammed Akeeb Ali (27) of Uttar Pradesh, Rajeev Ranjan Kumar (30) of Bihar, Mithun Kumar Mangaraj (38) of Jharkhand, Naushad Ali (34) of Uttar Pradesh and Om Prakash Yadav (37) of Rajasthan.

Investigations revealed that the accused used social media platforms to lure investors with promises of high returns. Examination of seized mobile phones and laptops led to the detection of 624 bank accounts and more than 4,580 complaints being registered against the gang on the NCRP portal across the country.

In one bank account alone, transactions worth Rs 167 crore was detected. In one case registered at the Mangaluru CCB police station, fraudsters had diverted around Rs 30,70,26,725 through 10 bank accounts. Details of the remaining 623 bank accounts are being verified, police said.

Modus operandi

Commissioner said that the fraudsters operated from Nepal by recruiting bank account holders and agents through social media. The money routed through multiple accounts was converted into US dollar or cryptocurrency and stashed in foreign banks. 

Another group, operating from Cambodia and other countries, contacted investors through social media platforms. Indians working abroad were abducted and forced to converse with victims in local languages and persuade them to invest more money. 

In the 10 bank accounts used in the Mangaluru case, around 128 complaints and 36 FIRs had been registered on the NCRP portal across the country.

Police said the fraudsters floated fake advertisements on Instagram and Telegram under different company names, seeking corporate accounts, current accounts, USDT-to-INR exchange operators, management operators and OTP workers.

Victims were lured with commissions ranging from 5 to 10 percent, along with offers of free flight tickets, cab bookings, hotel and lodge facilities.

Those who fell for the offers were taken to places such as Dubai or Nepal and their SIM cards were inserted into phones controlled by the fraudsters. Using net banking facilities, the accused transferred funds as required, purchased USDT daily and sent the cryptocurrency to associates abroad.

Police seized one laptop, 21 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards of various companies, and 20 debit and credit cards from different banks. Further investigation is under way.