Image Credits - The Wire
In a major crackdown on an alleged app-based fraudulent investment scheme, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday carried out widespread search operations across 30 locations in 10 states and Union Territories.
The multi-state searches were conducted in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka as part of an ongoing investigation into the investment fraud racket.
According to CBI officials, the nationwide operation led to the seizure of crucial digital evidence, including mobile phones, computer hard drives, SIM cards, ATM/debit cards, email accounts, and incriminating documents.
While the CBI did not reveal specific details to protect the investigation’s integrity, sources suggest the case pertains to a mobile app-based investment scheme that allegedly duped thousands of investors by promising unrealistic returns on their money.
The modus operandi involved luring people through social media advertisements and influencer promotions to invest in the scheme via a user-friendly app interface. However, after amassing substantial investments, the operators of the app platform reportedly went incommunicado, leaving investors high and dry.
The CBI had registered a case in the matter earlier this year after receiving numerous complaints from investors across the country alleging they had been defrauded of hundreds of crores through the app-based investment scam.
Friday’s coordinated searches mark an escalation of the probe to identify the key perpetrators, their financial trails, technical capabilities used to run the platform, and potential money laundering aspects.
As the investigation intensifies, the CBI is expected to make arrests and initiate prosecution against those identified as orchestrating the multi-crore investment fraud in the coming days.