Share mkt fraud: Cops ignored previous FIR against accused

LUDHIANA: Money running into crores and savings of several investors could have been saved had police taken note of an FIR registered against fraudulent share broker Anil Jain. The FIR was registered in November 2022 after a three-year long inquiry.
In the previous probe, police found that Anil Jain was not an authorised share broker under SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and he was found to be involved in illegal investments.Moreover, SEBI had directed officials concerned to take action against him. A case was registered but he was not arrested.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Ludhiana Police arrested him in the FIR lodged on November 3, 2022 under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC on the complaint of brothers Aman Jain and Rishi Jain of Dr Heera Singh Road, Ghumar Mandi. Anil Jain was produced in court on Friday and remanded in judicial custody.
On May 16, the cyber cell of Ludhiana Police arrested Jain and his accomplices for duping several people on the pretext of investing in stock market through a trading app, “V Trade”, which is actually a training app on investment. The accused would show forged transactions on the app and take money from victims on the pretext of making investments.
In the FIR lodged against Jain in November 2022 (a copy of which is with TOI), it was found that Anil Jain’s brother Jatin Jain was an authorised broker and Anil was illegally working in his place. The FIR also mentioned that SEBI asked officials concerned to take action against Anil Jain. After a long inquiry, a case was registered against him in November 2022 but police did not arrest him for six months. Finally, he was nabbed by the cyber cell.
During the probe against Jain, police found that the accused used to take security cheques from investors. When an investor got wind of the fraud, the accsused would present the cheques in the bank and embroil the victim in a cheque bounce case. In some cases, the accused also threatened investors who tried to lodge a complaint against him.
Police recovered Rs 40.62 lakh in cash, five laptops, six desktops, seven mobile phones, several record registers, property documents, 62 gold and diamond articles, 135 cheques worth Rs 3.01 crore, two cars and two cash counting machines from the the accused.