Pan-India Rs 317-cr cyber scam busted; Ruia premises searched

Kolkata: The Bengal Police’s Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) has uncovered a major pan-India cyber fraud racket while probing a case filed by a New Town senior citizen who lost over Rs 93 lakh.

The racket allegedly siphoned off around Rs 317 crore from 1,379 victims nationwide through multiple bank accounts linked to 148 shell companies.

Investigators traced the money trail to cryptocurrency transactions, indicating attempts to evade law enforcement.

On November 6, police simultaneously raided key places, including industrialist Pawan Ruia’s Ballygunge residence, Ruia Centre in Park Circus, and Dunlop Industrial Products Pvt Ltd on Park Street. According to sources, part of the defrauded money was credited to the Ruia family accounts.

Reportedly, on April 3, 2024, a man named Swapan Kumar Mandal lodged a complaint at Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station, alleging that in November 2023, he had been approached by a firm called KKRMF via messages promising high returns on share investments. After verifying the firm’s existence online, Mandal was convinced and began investing small amounts in phases.

To gain his confidence, the firm allegedly offered good returns and even permitted withdrawals. He was later added to a WhatsApp group where messages claiming large profits were circulated to persuade him to invest further. By January 2024, Mandal had invested over Rs 93 lakh before being told of supposed SEBI-related issues and subsequently denied access to his funds.

Based on the complaint, a case was reportedly registered at Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station on April 3, 2024, under Sections 419 (fraud), 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. The investigation was later taken over by the Cyber Crime Wing (CCW).

After a few months, CCW took over the investigation and, in due course, found that over 1,379 complainants were registered across the country, including Bengal, involving about Rs 317 crore of cheated money.

Based on these findings and to prevent multiple overlapping cases, a consolidated suo motu FIR was registered at Barrackpore Cyber Crime Police Station on November 5, under Sections 336 (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), 339 (possession of forged document), 340 (forged document), 317(4) (habitual cheating), 318(2) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 111 (organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act.

During the investigation, it was further revealed that the funds had been routed through multiple bank accounts linked to 148 shell companies — many sharing the same registered address — before being diverted into various mule accounts.

During the probe, on November 1, one suspect was arrested at Delhi Airport while attempting to flee to London via Dubai. It was later discovered that the fraudsters had converted approximately Rs 170 crore into cryptocurrency to evade detection and asset freezing by law enforcement agencies.

During the raids conducted on November 6, cops seized six mobile phones, multiple SIM cards of foreign origin, including Dubai, multiple laptops, hard disks, 10 server units, seven Wi-Fi routers, a large number of PAN cards, cheque books and bank documents along with 12 pen drives and extensive documentation related to the shell companies.

The investigation is proceeding further to find out more about the racket and its operations. Cops are also looking into the hawala angle.