Man arrested for duping HR manager of Rs 22 lakh

Indore: A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly duping a human resources manager of nearly Rs 22 lakh by luring him with promises of 200% returns through a stock market investment platform.The accused, 31-year-old Ayush Gupta, was operating as director of a fake firm. Police said Gupta along with his elder brother created a network of fraudulent bank accounts to siphon off money collected from many people across states.The HR manager posted in a private company in South Tukoganj, was approached after his profile was accessed through LinkedIn. Posing as representatives of Asian Market Securities, the accused contacted him and persuaded him to download a mobile application for stock trading. After registration, he was assured of 200% returns on investment and was induced to transfer nearly Rs 22 lakh from three bank accounts.Police said when the manager attempted to withdraw the supposed profits, he was asked to pay an additional 20% tax, raising suspicion and leading to the complaint.The accused used WhatsApp chats and calls to maintain contact and directed the victim to transfer money into multiple bank accounts spread across different states. During the investigation, Indore cyber cell teams found that the addresses linked to these accounts were fake. The accused rented accommodations at various locations, updated addresses on Aadhaar cards and used them to generate documents for opening current accounts in the name of shell firms.So far, police have identified at least 18 bank accounts linked to the accused, which saw transactions worth crores of rupees. Gupta allegedly opened these accounts in his name as director of fake firms and handed over control to his elder brother, who has already been arrested by Chandigarh cyber police in a separate digital fraud case.Using technical analysis of bank records, the accused was traced to Rajgarh district. He was arrested from Zirapur.