Rs 500-cr scam related to investment app unearthed, mastermind held

The Delhi Police arrested the mastermind of a Rs 500-crore worth scam that has duped 30,000 people till now. Social media influencers like Elvish Yadav and Saurav Joshi promoted this investment-related app, an official said on Thursday. The operation was conducted by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO), Special Cell of Delhi Police. Rs 18 crore was seized from four alleged bank accounts.

Police said that 127 complaints that have been filed till date were clubbed together. Two cases related to the ‘HIBOX’ app are being investigated by IFSO.

The police identified the accused as J. Sivaram (30), a resident of Chennai. They believe that he is the main accused involved in a large-scale scam that defrauded over 30,000 people by luring them into investing in the ‘HIBOX’ app.

“The scam, valued at approximately Rs 500 crore, involved promising high returns on investments, with false assurances of daily interest rates ranging from one percent to five percent. Many victims were drawn in through the promotion of the app by popular social media influencers and YouTubers.” DCP, IFSO, Dr. Hemant Tiwari said.

On August 16, police had received a complaint from 29 victims against the ‘HIBOX’ app alleging that they have been lured to invest in the app with a promise of guaranteed amounting to 30 per cent to 90 per cent every month.

Further it was also alleged that many social media influencers and youtubers — Saurav Joshi, Elvish Yadav, Abhishek Malhan alias Fukra Insaan, Purav Jha, Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Amit alias Crazy XYZ and Dilraj Singh Rawat alias Indian hacker promoted the app and lured the investors to invest through the app, the DCP said.

Notice has been issued to youtubers — Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary, Purav Jha to join investigation. A case was registered on August 20 under Sections 316(2), (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 3(5) (common intention) of BNS and 71 IT Act (misrepresentation).

During investigation, it was found that another case was registered against the app in North East Delhi district by nine victims. Several other complaints also came to light from the investigation of the same modus operandi — 30 from North-East district, 35 complaints from Outer district, 24 complaints from Shahdara District.

“Apart from these complaints, 488 complaints of similar modus operandi have been found linked on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal,” an official said.

Police gathered details of payment gateways and bank accounts involved in the fraud and found that services of payment gateways Easebuzz and PhonePe were used to transfer the cheated amount to subsequent merchants, the official added. Their role is also being probed by the Delhi Police.

“Analysis of these transactions led the team to identify four accounts which were used to siphon off the cheated amount. On the basis of technical analysis and surveillance, Sivaram was arrested.” DCP Tiwari said.

He said the entire amount (Rs 18 crore) of victims was deposited in four accounts of Sutrulla Xpress Private Limited registered in the name of accused J Sivaram (director). The office was registered in Chennai, leased by him in the name of Sutrulla Xpress Pvt Ltd. However, the platform stopped releasing funds to the investors, and the alleged companies disappeared after closing their office in Noida.

“Role of Easebuzz and PhonePe are under probe as the merchant accounts of the fraudsters operating HIBOX were opened virtually without following due verification process and bypassing the norms laid down by the RBI,” DCP added.

Defrauded over 30,000 people

• The police identified a Chennai resident as the main accused in the large-scale scam that defrauded over 30,000 people by luring them into investing in the HIBOX app.
• The app promised high returns on investments, with false assurances of daily interest rates ranging from 1 pc to 5 pc, amounting to 30 pc-90 pc profits on monthly basis.
• On August 16, police received a complaint from 29 victims against the ‘HIBOX’ app; During investigation, it was revealed that many other cases were registered against the app in different districts of Delhi.
• Notice has been issued to YouTubers — Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary, Purav Jha to join investigation
• Payment gateways Easebuzz and PhonePe were used to transfer the cheated amount to subsequent merchants