Elderly duped of ₹1.15 cr in trading, crypto fraud

Lucknow: An elderly man from the city was duped of over Rs 1.15 crore by fraudsters who lured him with promise of high returns through trading and cryptocurrency investments. Rajendra Singh Chauhan, resident of Puran Nagar in Alambagh, accused a youth from Aashiana and his associates of cheating him using forged documents and fake investment schemes.

According to complaint filed at cyber cell in Krishna Nagar, Chauhan came into contact with the main accused, Himanshu Gihar alias Azad, in 2019 through a Union Bank employee. Gihar claimed expertise in trading and systematic investment plans (SIPs) and assured lucrative returns. He gradually gained Chauhan’s trust by initially returning small profits and persuading him to invest larger sums.

The accused allegedly got Chauhan to invest money in multiple firms. Later, citing losses in trading, he convinced the victim to invest in cryptocurrency and a scheme called 'i-Fortune Machine’.

Between 2023 and 2025, the victim transferred a total of ₹1.15 crore to various accounts, including around ₹93.61 lakh in the name of 'Anandi Enterprises’, while remaining funds were routed to accounts belonging to the accused, his family members and associates.

The complainant alleged that the accused often demanded money via email, collected transaction screenshots and at times even operated his mobile phone to execute transfers. He had assured that the entire amount, along with profits, would be returned from Nov 2025.

However, when there were no returns, Chauhan informed his son, who conducted an online verification and found that the documents and booklets provided by the accused were forged, exposing the fraud.