RS 500 CRORE CYBER FRAUD VIA WHATSAPP GROUP; POLICE NAB MASTERMIND IN PUNE

Raj Sadosh/Abohar.

The Cyber Crime Branch of the Rajasthan Police has busted a massive interstate gang involved in nationwide fraud under the guise of stock market investment and trading. The police team arrested the prime mastermind behind this Rs 500 crore cyber scam, Yuvraj Satish, from Pune, Maharashtra. The accused used to obtain people’s documents by setting up fake loan-providing companies. He would then open mule bank accounts in their names to launder the proceeds of the fraud.

Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime) Vijay Kumar Singh said that a complainant, Sendha Ram Chaudhary, had lodged a complaint regarding a cyber fraud amounting to Rs 16 lakh. The victim reported being added to an online WhatsApp group named ‘105 IND STOCKS ADV,’ where he was defrauded through false trading. A thorough technical analysis of the group’s chats and data by the police team revealed that cyber fraud totalling approximately Rs 500 crore had been perpetrated.

A special team from the State Cyber Crime Police Station was constituted under the direction of Deputy Inspector General (Cyber Crime) Shantanu Kumar Singh and the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Sumit Mehrada. The team conducted an in-depth technical analysis of the bank accounts, WhatsApp group data, and mobile numbers used by the perpetrators. Subsequently, the team laid a trap and arrested the syndicate’s mastermind, Yuvraj Satish Mudaliar (35) of Lohegaon, from Pune.

During interrogation, Yuvraj Satish reportedly revealed that he operated fake loan companies in Pune under the names Grace Finance, Positive Balance, and Guru Finance. Under the pretext of facilitating loans, he would obtain crucial documents—such as PAN cards, identity proofs, bank statements, and salary slips—from unsuspecting individuals. He would then misuse these documents to open bank accounts in their names, paying the account holders a commission of Rs 10,000 in return. He would withdraw the proceeds of the fraud from ATMs and, via the hawala network, use the funds to purchase cryptocurrency in his Binance wallet; he would then sell this cryptocurrency abroad, earning a direct 5 percent commission.