Matunga police have uncovered a Bitcoin scam and arrested a 31-year-old resident of Karnataka who duped ‘lakhs’  of people of crores of rupees. Officers have appealed to the people to come forward and file a complaint if they have been cheated by the accused, Mohammad Jabir.

Police launched the investigation in October following a complaint by a teacher, a resident of Matunga. After months of investigation, they traced Jabir to Bengaluru, Karnataka, and arrested him on February 18. They seized two bank accounts, two debit cards, passbook and one mobile phone from him.

Accused offered lucrative returns as bait to attract investors in Bitcoin through his apps

Details of one of the bank accounts has revealed that he made Rs 189 crore by cheating people into investing in Bitcoin between October and February, until his arrest, said police. He is suspected to be active since July, they added.

The crime

Jabir would purchase bulk SMS service, with a limit of 1 crore messages every time, police said. He would text people, asking them to invest in Bitcoin via his apps—Arohas and Agro PRO—with a promise of a lucrative return.

In August 2021, the complainant received a message on his mobile phone that read: ‘Join India`s No.1 Crypto Mining Apps You can earn upto Rs 2,000/- Profit daily Guaranteed, Download & Get 50 now [sic]’, said police. He then downloaded Arohash app.

Later, he started receiving many WhatsApp calls and messages to invest in Bitcoin crypto currency. A few days later, one Aarav Khurana called him on WhatsApp and told him that he will get Rs 25 daily if he invests Rs 2,000 in Bitcoin through Arohash. “The teacher invested Rs 2,000 and started receiving Rs 25 in his Arohash account. The accused then told him he will get Rs 2,000 if he invests Rs 1 lakh. The complainant did so and after he received the amount for a few days, he invested Rs 2.47 lakh,” said an officer.

The accused created a WhatsApp group and added over 200 investors as members, including the complainant, and sent messages daily informing them about profits of investing in Bitcoin through the apps he suggested, said police.  “However, after a few days, the accused deleted both Arohash and Agro PRO apps on Google Play Store and told the investors that it was because of a technical error and that the apps will be back soon,” said police.

In October, when the teacher stopped receiving the money, he approached the Matunga police who registered a case under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention) of the IPC and Section 66(K)(D) of IT Act.

Sub-Inspector Rajabhau Garad, the investigating officer in the case, told mid-day, “After receiving the complaint, we checked the bank account to which the money was transferred and the data records. We found that more than Rs 189 crore was credited into the account used by Jabir and was transferred to various other accounts. The complainant had also transferred the money into this account. They regularly changed their VPN.”

The arrest

Senior inspector Deepak Chavan said that they created a team of four people, including Garad, Naik Santosh Pawar and constable Mangesh Janhad, who laid a trap and arrested the accused from his residence in Bengaluru.

“We suspect that lakhs of investors have been duped, because more than Rs 189 crore was in received in just one of his bank account over the past four months. We have found out that several incidents have occurred across the country. We are appealing to the citizens to come forward and give a complaint if they were cheated by this accused,” he said.

Garad said, “Jabir shut down the apps on January 18, and his bank accounts were opened in Delhi. He also created a fake company and its bank account to transfer the money received from his victims. The accused is in police custody. We are now checking how many people has he cheated.”

Jabir stopped schooling when he was in Std III and has two criminal cases registered in Bengaluru and one in Hyderabad, he added.