Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police has arrested a 39-year-old man from Bhubaneswar in connection with an investment fraud involving over Rs 6 crore, a senior police official said Monday.
The accused, identified as Vedgiri Srinivasrao, 39, is a resident of the Guntur area in Andhra Pradesh.
Police sources revealed that a businessman from Berhampur in Ganjam district came in contact with a cyber fraudster on Facebook May 7, 2024. The fraudster identified herself as Sanjana Srinivasan, working as a software developer with IBM, Hong Kong. She then persuaded the businessman to communicate via WhatsApp.
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“Sanjana convinced the businessman to open an account with ZAIF, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, and start trading. It was further revealed during the investigation that May 30, 2024, the businessman’s trading account showed a negative balance of $11,292. When he informed Sanjana, she advised him to invest more money to recover the losses. Subsequently, the businessman continued trading and his account showed significant profit. During his trading, he faced frequent profit and loss which was only shown in his trading account,” said the CB official.
“When he wanted to withdraw money, the customer care of ZAIF asked him to pay 20 per cent of the balance amount. So, he deposited Rs 89 lakh, but the risk control team refused to release his funds under one pretext or another. Then, he realised that he had been a victim of a well-planned conspiracy by fraudsters and ZAIF,” the official informed.
The businessman had reportedly transferred a total amount of Rs 6,16,37,084 to different accounts as instructed by Sanjana between May 23 and June 24, 2024.
