Chinese national arrested in Rs 43.5L cyber fraud case

The Delhi Police arrested a Chinese national, Fang Chenjin, for his alleged involvement in a cyber fraud case worth Rs 43.5 lakh, revolving around online stock trading training scams, police officials said on Tuesday.

Cops said the scam, orchestrated via WhatsApp groups, also revealed a wider fraud network linked to a Fincare Bank account, with the total amount defrauded exceeding Rs 100 crore.

The investigation began following a complaint lodged on July 24 this year on the Cyber Crime Portal. The complainant alleged that he was lured into fraudulent stock market training sessions and subsequently tricked into investing Rs 43.5 lakh in multiple transactions. These funds were traced to several bank accounts, an official said.

Through technical analysis and manual surveillance, the police traced the fraudulent transactions to a bank account in the name of ‘Maha Laxmi Traders’ located in Mundka, Delhi, said a senior police official.

The trail led investigators to a mobile number registered in the name of Fang Chenjin, who was residing in Safdarjung Enclave.

“Evidence, including a mobile phone and WhatsApp chat logs, established that Fang Chenjin was directing the fraudulent activities. His arrest was made after confirming his involvement,” the official added.

The police seized a mobile phone used in the crime and WhatsApp conversations where Chenjin instructed an associate to recharge a mobile number linked to the scam.

Further investigation revealed Chenjin’s connections to two other cases in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. “Seventeen complaints linked to the same Fincare Bank account show a total defrauded amount exceeding Rs 100 crore,” the official said.

Chenjin, who hails from Guangdong, China, entered India in April 2020 on a work visa for a Taiwanese company based in Andhra Pradesh. However, his visa and passport were seized by the Andhra Pradesh police in an earlier case, and he currently has no valid visa to stay in India.

“He came on the pretext of installing data cable module machine in the company along with his associate. The manager registered a complaint against him and his associate of criminal breach of trust. They spent seven months in a jail in Andhra Pradesh. In August 2023, they come to reside in Noida and similar case to Shahdara was registered against them where they were cheating victims using an app. They used the name of a reputed company – Goldman Sachs – to build trust,” DCP (Shahdara), Prashant Gautam said