The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at 15 locations in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab related to a large-scale online investment and part-time job fraud. The fraud, involving offshore withdrawals and overseas fintech platforms like “Pyypl,” targeted unsuspecting Indian citizens, leading to crores of rupees being swindled through deceptive online schemes. Victims were enticed through social media, mobile apps, and encrypted messages with promises of high returns on investments and attractive part-time job offers.
Investigations revealed that the fraud syndicate used various means to dupe victims into depositing money, showing them fake profits to gain trust before persuading them to invest larger sums. The defrauded funds were then moved through multiple bank accounts to obscure the money trail, with proceeds funneled out through offshore ATM withdrawals and wallet top-ups on overseas fintech platforms, primarily “Pyypl,” using Visa and MasterCard networks. The alleged mastermind, Ashok Kumar Sharma, a chartered accountant from Bijwasan, is suspected of siphoning off hundreds of crores through a network of mule accounts and overseas financial channels, with some funds converted into cryptocurrency.
Further investigation by the CBI uncovered another significant branch of the network through which Sharma is believed to have diverted nearly Rs 900 crore in the past year alone. The ill-gotten gains were reportedly consolidated into accounts linked to 15 shell companies and channeled through two entities, with the funds converted into USDT through Indian virtual asset exchanges and transferred to whitelisted wallets. The CBI had previously frozen the bank accounts of these entities and conducted searches at their premises, recovering incriminating documents and digital evidence.
During the raids, incriminating evidence related to the syndicate’s operations was seized, including the fraudulent appointment of unsuspecting individuals as directors of shell companies using forged documents. Ashok Sharma’s custody is being sought for further interrogation, with ongoing efforts to identify and apprehend other suspects, including foreign nationals, and track and freeze the illicit proceeds routed through domestic and international financial channels.
