A Delhi resident already in Bengal police custody has emerged as a key figure in a ₹315-crore cyber fraud case in which industrialist Pawan Ruia and his family have emerged as suspects.
Police said Rahul Verma, 27, is "very close" to the Ruias and played a "crucial role" in the alleged money laundering operation, which involved converting approximately ₹170 crore into cryptocurrency.
So far, efforts to contact Ruia for a comment have not yielded any results. A few years ago, the Bengal government had tried to take over Ruia's non-functional Jessop and Dunlop.
Verma was arrested at Delhi airport on November 1 while allegedly attempting to fly to London via Dubai. At the time, he was wanted in connection with a separate ₹93-lakh cyber fraud case involving a New Town resident.
In the New Town case, the 65-year-old complainant was added to an unknown WhatsApp group and persuaded to invest money with promises of high returns. The victim invested ₹93 lakh in instalments between 2023 and 2024.
To gain trust, the accused allegedly created a fake mobile application and website displaying inflated profits, and initially remitted small "profit" payments to the victim.
Verma, a resident of Bhajanpura in northeast Delhi, was also arrested in connection with another cybercrime reported in March 2023. In that case, a 47-year-old resident of 5/2A/1 Hem Dey Lane in Sinthi in north Calcutta lost ₹69.83 lakh after being added to a WhatsApp group and induced to invest through a web portal.
Links to Ruia family
Sources said the Cyber Crime Wing has filed an FIR against Pawan Ruia, several family members, Rahul Verma, and multiple shell companies suspected of laundering proceeds from cybercrimes.
Of the 1,379 cyber complaints reported to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, at least 23 cases allegedly show proceeds landing directly in accounts linked to Pawan Ruia and his family members, the police sources said.
When the sleuths dug deeper into these accounts, they found a network of 16 beneficiary firms having 11 common directors. They included Gain E Commerce, Melrose Creation Private Limited, Dahisar Traders Private Limited and Xettle Technologies Private Limited.
Last week, the police conducted raids at several locations, including Ruia Centre on Syed Amir Ali Avenue in Park Circus, Dunlop Industrial Products Pvt Ltd on Park Street, Berger House, and Pawan Ruia's Ballygunge residence.
Officers seized international SIM cards, laptops, hard disks, WiFi routers, PAN cards, chequebooks, bank documents, pen drives, and documents related to shell companies.
Investigators are currently preparing their case documentation and organising evidence before taking further action. The Cyber Crime Wing plans to interrogate Verma soon regarding the larger ₹315-crore fraud case.