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11 June 2021 11:36:55

Gang of fraudsters promising to double the investment in 24 days using Chinese Apps arrested

5 Lakh Indians were duped of Rs. 150 Cr

This incident underscores the point that it is high time the Indian Government bans all the Chinese Apps

New Delhi – Cyber Crime Cell of Delhi Police has arrested a gang of fraudsters who duped 5 lakh Indians of Rs 150 Cr. The Police suspected that the sum looted can be even higher by around Rs. 250 Cr. This gang cheated gullible investors by claiming that they would double the amount in just 24 days. These Chinese apps have also stolen personal data belonging to the users. The Police have arrested 11 suspects so far which include two CAs. They have also taken an action against these Chinese Apps.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Anyesh Roy said,

    • Apps such as ‘New Blood’, ‘EZPlan’ and ‘Sun Factory’ get downloaded in India on a wider scale. In less that a month and a half nearly 50 lakh Indians have downloaded these apps. When the officers at the Cyber Crime Cell downloaded these apps for further scrutiny, they realised that these apps were being managed from China and even the server was found to be based in China.
    • These apps used to entice the gullible investors by making lofty promises such as an ability to double the invested amount in just 24 days. The threshold was kept at Rs. 300 as the minimum capital required. The Cyber Crime Cell, pretending to be investors, also invested some amount to understand the modus operandi when they realised that the Chinese handlers were robbing naïve investors in India.
    • Post this revelation, a few suspects were arrested from Delhi and Bengal. Sheikh Robin was arrested from Bengal while Avik Kedia, Raunak Bansal, Umakant Akash Joyce, Ved Chandra, Hariom, Abhishek, Arvind, Shashi Bansal, Mithilesh Sharma and few others were arrested from Delhi. Among these, Avik Kedia and Raunak Bansal are Chartered Accountants by profession. A total of 30 mobile handsets were seized from them. Information regarding 29 bank accounts which had a total balance of Rs 97 lakhs also came to light during the subsequent investigation. The Police are also investigating a possibility of involvement of Chinese Government in the scam.

  • These handlers had opened bogus bank accounts with fake identities and had created shell companies as a cover for this scam. Avik Kedia was handling 110 such shell companies while Sheikh Robin another 30 of them.
  • To make it look genuine, these apps used to provide 100% return on capital to the investors when they put up an initial sum of Rs. 300. However, as investors started putting in additional funds, they were not given any return but still a message was being sent on the app as the returns have been credited to the respective bank accounts. However, no real funds were ever credited to the bank accounts of the investors.

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