Delhi Police arrested man for cheating 30,000 people of Rs 500cr

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has arrested a man who, they suspect, defrauded over 30,000 people of an estimated Rs 500 crore.
The perpetrator lured his victims into investing in the HIBOX mobile application with promises of exorbitant daily returns. The scam was amplified by the endorsements of popular social media influencers and YouTubers who have been summoned by the police.
The accused was identified as J. Sivaram (30), a native of Chennai and a graduate. Police received complaints from 29 people against the application in Aug. Deputy commissioner of police (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari said notices have been issued to YouTubers and social media influencers Abhishek Malhan alias Fukra Insaan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary and Purav Jha to join the investigation.
Police said people were lured to invest in the application with the promise of guaranteed returns of 1% to 5% daily, amounting to 30% to 90% monthly. Later in the investigation, police got 89 complaints from Delhi, and 488 complaints were found linked to the case on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). A case was registered.
"We found that the accused used e-wallets for the transfer of money," a police source said, adding that the investigators found four accounts to which the cheated money was transferred.
During the investigation, they identified Sivaram as the main suspect and arrested him. Subsequently, police seized Rs 18 crore from four of his bank accounts, which were registered in the name of a company he was the director of.
Police said it was a well-planned scam, and through the application, the suspect lured people with the help of influencers.
As a result, over 30,000 people invested. However, the platform stopped releasing funds to its investors, and the alleged companies disappeared after closing their offices in Noida.
Police said the role of two e-wallets is under investigation. The involvement of their employees can't be ruled out.