A doctor from Barasat who came across an advertisement of a money investment platform on social media and was inducted into a WhatsApp group on the pretext of providing investment tips lost ₹36 lakh, which he thought he had invested.
The state CID arrested a man on Wednesday whose mobile number was linked to one of the bank accounts where the swindled money was transferred. Police identified the accused as Reyaz Ahmed, a resident of Garden Reach.
According to the doctor’s complaint, he had come across an investment platform named “5paisa Capital” that claimed to provide legitimate financial services.
“The victim was initially lured through an advertisement on Facebook, which redirected him to a WhatsApp group under the guise of teaching how to invest in stock market. Subsequently, he was convinced to invest ₹36 lakh over a period of two months through ten transactions,” said a senior officer of the cyber police station of the state CID.
The police found that of the ₹36 lakh that had been defrauded, ₹18 lakh was transferred to a company named “The Local Brand Shop”, an officer said.
A movie producer and an entrepreneur, Prosenjit Ranjan Nath, the proprietor of the company, was arrested last month.
Nath is the “key beneficiary” of the siphoned amount, the police said.
Following his arrest, the police earlier this month arrested Amit Ghosh, an employee of a private bank, for his alleged role in the fraud.
On Wednesday, the police arrested Ahmed after his mobile number was found linked to a bank account where the stolen money was transferred.
“Social media platforms do not have any checking mechanism on the advertisements that are displayed. Many such advertisements are fake and are designed to trap people into online fraud,” said a senior police officer.
A portion of the siphoned money, ₹14 lakh, has been seized from one of the beneficiary bank accounts, the police said.