Police have arrested seven accused in a large online investment fraud that cheated people of nearly INR 200 crore. The scam involved fake online gold and currency trading. Two people were held in Maharashtra in connection with the case on Monday, January 05 and five more had been arrested earlier in November.
In total, more than 50 criminal cases from different states have been linked to the fraud. The fraud came to light on November 12, 2025, when the police raided Shivsai Residency on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Bapane.
The raid exposed the nature of the racket and led to the arrest of five men. They were identified as Amir Karam Sher Khan, Rahul Kumar alias Kailash Rakesh Kumar, Sabir Mohammad Khan, Roshan Kumar Sitharama Shetty, and Sanad Sanjeev Das.
The two recently arrested accused are Abhishek Anil Narkar, also known as Gopal, and Mohammed Rashid Fakir Mohammed Baloch, also known as Lucky. As per reports, Baloch holds an MBA degree, while Narkar has a BMS degree. Narkar was caught in a hotel room in Mumbai, from where he was running the operation.
The accused contacted victims through social media platforms and matrimony websites. They first gained the trust of the victims through regular chats. After that, the victims were encouraged to invest money in online gold and foreign exchange trading.
After this, the accused asked them to log in to fake trading websites and promised very high returns. They also shared several bank account details for transferring money. At least 500 people from Maharashtra and many more from other states were targeted.
The main accused, Abdul Sattar, is believed to be operating from Dubai. According to the police, Sattar collected large sums of money from India. He later converted the funds into bitcoin and withdrew them. Sattar is a resident of Saki Naka and has been running the racket from abroad for the past few months.
Police said the accused were operating bank accounts to move illegal money. They were paid 2% of every transaction for allowing their accounts to be used. They were also asked to stay in the hotel for a few days. In just three days, at least INR 3 crore was transferred through three mule accounts.
Police also examined the laptops seized from Narkar and Baloch. The browsing history showed contact with investors through multiple social media and matrimony platforms. It also showed access to fake trading websites and details of bank accounts used for deposits.
It is yet to be found if women were used to approach victims on dating apps or if the male accused posed as women online. A case has been filed at Naigaon police station under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
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