Staff Reporter
Panaji
The state cyber crime police have arrested a 39-year-old Gujarat native, Ramesh Kumar Yadav, in connection with the cryptocurrency fraud in which a senior citizen from Bardez lost his
lifetime savings of over
Rs 2.63 crore.
During the investigation, cyber police conducted financial analysis and traced Yadav, a resident of Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad. A team was dispatched to Gujarat and he was arrested.
“Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the accused played a crucial role in managing a mule bank account and facilitated the routing of Rs 10 lakh from the defrauded amount into various other accounts. He is suspected to be part of a larger cybercrime network engaged in financial frauds,” said Rahul Gupta, SP, Cyber Crime.
The 68-year-old complainant was contacted through a social media platform and lured into investing and trading in cryptocurrency. The accused used a fake trading website, www.maunto.com, which falsely claimed that Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani had invested in it, and promised high returns starting from a minimum investment of $250.
The complainant had initially seen his investment double and was encouraged to invest more through a caller who identified herself as Aliza. She claimed she would provide training and trading tips for currencies, crypto, and commodities. Over time, the victim made several transfers to different bank accounts, totalling
Rs 2,63,30,000.
When he attempted to withdraw a small amount as a test, he was advised to withdraw $100 and submitted the request on March 10, 2025. However, no funds were received. Aliza assured him the issue would be looked into, but further communication yielded no results.
The fraud came to light when the senior citizen visited Pune, where a relative informed him that he had likely been scammed. He then filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Police said that further investigations are underway to identify other members of the cyber fraud network.
