Two held for ‘duping’ Delhi man of Rs 1.16 lakh in fake investment scheme

Delhi Police has arrested two 21-year-old men from Bahadurgarh in Haryana for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 1.16 lakh in an investment fraud, officials said on Thursday.

The accused, Lalit Kumar and Parteek Kumar, were identified as the first- and second-layer beneficiaries, respectively, in the money trail, they said.

According to police, the complainant, Anil Kumar Burman, was lured through an online advertisement to invest in a website called “BXB Market.com”, which promised good returns.

After receiving calls from international numbers, Burman allegedly invested Rs 1.16 lakh through five transactions. When he tried to withdraw the purported profits, the transactions failed, following which he reported the matter.

An e-FIR was registered at Cyber Police Station, Shahdara. During the investigation, police traced Rs 70,165 to a bank account held by Lalit Kumar, identifying him as the first-layer beneficiary.

Further analysis revealed frequent high-value credits from a bank account that had around 5,000 linkages, complaints or FIRs on the NCRP across India, police said.

The investigation further found that Rs 85,000 was transferred from Lalit’s account to an account held by Parteek Kumar, who was identified as the second-layer beneficiary. The two accused, both residents of Netaji Nagar in Bahadurgarh, were subsequently arrested, police said.

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A phone belonging to Parteek Kumar was seized and is being examined for digital evidence, communication details, financial transactions and possible links with other members of the alleged cyber fraud network.

Police said the accused allegedly lured victims through advertisements for the fake investment platform and initially showed purported profits to gain their confidence before inducing them to invest larger amounts. Withdrawals were allegedly blocked thereafter and communication with the victims was cut off.