Mumbai: Elderly loses Rs 1.1 crore in trading fraud, duo held for lending bank account to scamsters

Mumbai: The crime branch police arrested two men from Kolhapur in connection with their alleged role in a Rs 1.1 crore share market trading fraud. Those arrested were Dastagir Qazi (52), a bhel-puri seller and Chetan Padalkar (31), a civil contractor. While Qazi provided his bank account to be used to receive money, Padalkar operated Qazi's bank account. The accused allegedly received Rs 7 lakh in their account (from the victim's account). Police froze over three dozen accounts during the probe and blocked Rs 30 lakh in it.The 70-year-old complainant, a retired company director, had lodged a complaint, following which an FIR was registered on Dec 3, 2025. The crime took place between Oct 29, 2025 and Nov 19, 2025. The senior citizen's number was added to a WhatsApp group where the admin told the complainant it was a ‘SEBI registered' company. On Nov 19, when the complainant checked the app, he saw his investment and profit reaching Rs 3.7 crore in his virtual account. He made a request for withdrawal of Rs 3 lakh, which he received in his account. However, when he tried to withdraw his entire investment and profit, he failed. The group admin gave evasive replies and the complainant realised he was cheated.
A team led by senior inspector Suvarna Shinde, assistant inspector Dr Nitin Gacche, sub-inspector Vijay Ghorphade and staff Sangram Jadhav, Mayur Ingale and Suresh Lokre is probing the case."There were 38 complaints against this bank account on the national cybercrime reporting portal. In a week, there were transactions of Rs 3 crore in this account," said police.
Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Republic Day Wishes, Messages and speech!