Cyber fraud case filed in Navi Mumbai over a year after scrap dealer lost Rs 2.3cr to stock trading scam

Navi Mumbai: A 43-year-old scrap dealer, who hails from Kolhapur, was defrauded of Rs 2.3 crore in an online stock market trading scam when he lived and ran his business in the Rabale MIDC area last year.According to the complaint filed on Monday, while watching reels on Facebook on March 9 last year, the victim saw an advertisement from one ‘Ask Investment Manager’ company suggesting stock market trading and investments in shares to earn high returns.

As he clicked ‘Like’ on the reel, he received a WhatsApp message from one Priya Sharma, claiming she was an employee of the company, which has an office in Worli, and the company’s director was one Professor Bharat Shah, a senior stock market consultant, and she was his assistant.

When the complainant asked her for information about investing in stock market trading, she added him to join the ‘Ask Wealth Management’ WhatsApp group, where Prof Shah used to give advice on buying and selling shares.As the complainant agreed to invest, she emailed him an approval form and sent him a link to download the ‘ASK IM PRO’ app.

He initially invested some amount in shares as guided by Prof Shah, when his profit of Rs 2.7 lakh was virtually displayed on the app from March 19 to April 3.

He sent a message to the service desk on the app to withdraw his profit, when Rs 2.7 lakh profit was credited to his bank account, thus gaining his trust.

Thereafter, till April 28, 2025, he gradually invested a total of Rs 2.3 crore by transferring the amount to different bank accounts provided by Sharma.

Thereafter, his profit of Rs 11 crore from shares was being virtually displayed on the app.

He sent a message to the service desk on the app requesting withdrawal of his profit, but the amount was not credited to his bank account.

He questioned Shah’s assistant Sharma, when she told him to transfer more amount for payment of applicable taxes on his earned profit for crediting his profit amount to his bank account.

Hence, he realised he was cheated and lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, after which an FIR of cheating and criminal breach of trust under BNS sections along with the IT Act was registered against the concerned accused persons at the Navi Mumbai cyber police station on Monday.Vishal Patil, senior inspector of the cyber police station, said, “The complainant initially approached Kolhapur police to register an FIR, but they told him to approach Navi Mumbai police as the fraud took place when he was in the Rabale MIDC area.

Hence, on Monday, when he came to the Navi Mumbai cyber police station, we accepted his complaint and registered an FIR.

We have begun the process of obtaining details of the bank account holders where the complainant was made to transfer the money.

As the incident is a year old, it is possible that the scamsters might have diverted the defrauded amount to various other bank accounts.

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