Software engr, wife held for multi-crore investment fraud via fake app in UP

Lucknow: A software engineer who duped nearly 300 people in several UP districts of Rs 30 crore through a fake trading application offering investment schemes was arrested in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar on Wednesday.

The accused Dhananjay Shukla, 35, was arrested along with his wife Rajni Prajapati, 30, for a fraud case lodged against him at Mahuli police station of Sant Kabir Nagar in Oct 2025.

Police said Dhananjay ran a website “TVS Solution” and developed a trading app that promised investors up to 6% monthly commission for keeping money in digital wallets for 180 days.

While Dhananjay holds a BTech degree, his wife is a masters in computer science.

Police said Dhananjay operated five offices in Lucknow and targeted schools and coaching centres to attract investors. Police suspect he used crime proceeds to build a luxurious house near the Yamuna Expressway.

Police said Dhananjay used aggressive networking strategies to expand the fraud.

Police said the money was never invested in the share market or legitimate trading platforms. Instead, the funds were diverted elsewhere by the accused while the application continued to show fabricated balances to maintain investor confidence.

Investigators said the accused also ran a referral-based system, offering higher commissions to people who persuaded others to join the scheme. This helped the network expand rapidly, with many victims unknowingly bringing in their friends, relatives and acquaintances.

Police sources said investors initially received some returns for a few months, which further strengthened trust in the scheme and encouraged larger investments. Once confidence was established, the alleged fraud network expanded significantly.

“During interrogation, Dhananjay disclosed that he had established five offices in Lucknow to operate and manage the investment racket. Police believe the operation was highly organised and spread beyond Uttar Pradesh into several other states,” said Sant Kabir Nagar SP Sandeep Meena.

A detailed scrutiny of records recovered from the offices is underway. Several important documents and digital records have been seized, and police are examining transaction details, investor databases and property-related documents.

Police believe further revelations may emerge once the accused is taken into custody for questioning.

The fraud came to light after multiple investors realised they were unable to withdraw their money. Following complaints, an FIR was registered at Mahuli police station in October 2025 on the complaint of Rangeelal Maurya.

Initially, police had named 13 accused persons in the FIR. However, during the course of investigation, they found that several of those named individuals were themselves victims who had been manipulated into promoting the scheme.

Investigators are now reassessing the role of each accused person to distinguish actual conspirators from duped investors.

“Names of those whose involvement is established will be added. Police are making effort to ensure that no innocent person is sent to jail,” said CO CIty Abhay Nath Mishra.

Police suspect that the accused diverted the money into real estate and personal assets. Authorities are now preparing to initiate attachment and seizure proceedings against the property.

Police officials said the network’s financial trail is being traced and more arrests are likely as the investigation progresses.