The investigation into the online share trading fraud in Bengaluru, in which a man was cheated of Rs 1.52 crore, has led to the discovery of six bank accounts linked to 254 similar cyber-crimes registered with the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and involving Rs 97 crore of fund transfers.
The probe into the cybercrime case, which was registered by the Bengaluru police on July 1 this year, has also led to the arrest of four officials of an Axis Bank branch in Bengaluru, including a manager, on charges of facilitating the opening of six current accounts without verifications and checks for the facilitation of the fraud. This is the first time bank officials have been arrested for a cybercrime in Bengaluru.
The arrested bank officials have been identified as Kishore Sahu, a manager of the Axis Bank Nagarbhavi branch, B Manohar, a sales manager, and sales executives Karthik and Rakesh. The police have also arrested Lakshmikanth, Raghu Raj, Kengegowda, and Mala, who opened mule accounts at the Axis Bank branch for ten transfer of funds defrauded from victims who wanted to make big money through online share trading.
Short article insert the main operators of the cyber fraud who contacted victims online and received money defrauded from the victims are still at large and efforts are underway to track them down, police sources said. Some of the accused are suspected to be in a foreign country, the sources added.
Online share trading fraud case
On July 1, the 52-year-old man filed a complaint with the cyber-crime police station in Bengaluru stating that he had been cheated of Rs 1.52 crore between March 2024 and June 2024 by cyber fraudsters who promised to provide big returns through a VIP online share trading tips and management application.
The victim said he was contacted on WhatsApp by a woman who claimed that her associate was a professor and had good knowledge about share trading and analysis and that he could help him make money. The victim was included in a group with over 110 members. He also downloaded a trading app indicated on the online group.
According to the police complaint, the victim transferred Rs 1.52 crore from multiple accounts to the trading account created at the instance of online acquaintances between April and May 2024. In June, his account showed returns of Rs 28 crore and the victim sought to encase the returns but was told to pay Rs 75 lakh to access the money and this led to suspicion of cheating and the filing of the police complaint.
Suspicious bank accounts
When the police began their probe into the case, they found the money given by the victim was primarily transferred to two Axis Bank accounts in Bengaluru. “When we conducted investigations at the bank, we found that apart from the two accounts linked to the crime, four other similar accounts were opened at the bank on the same day,” said a police source.
The police found that the suspicious bank accounts at the Axis Bank branch were opened by those who lived in Chikamagalur, which is nearly 300 km away from Bengaluru.
“The business accounts were allowed to be opened at the bank without proper verification. The bank accounts used for the frauds were possibly allowed to be opened by the bank officials on the basis of commissions promised by the operators of the scam,” said B Dayananda, Commissioner, Bengaluru police, after the arrest of the bank officials and the mule account holders this week.
The police have also found that the bank executives travelled to a resort outside Bengaluru under the pretext of verification of the biometrics of the account holders even though accounts could have been referred to be opened in the region where the account holders lived. “All the accounts that were opened were current accounts. Several crores of funds travelled through these accounts but no intimation was given to law enforcement agencies. There was a possibility of freezing over Rs 40 crore after being alerted of the accounts being used for fraudulent activities,” a cybercrime official said.
