Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police have arrested a hotelier from Goa and a businessman’s son from Kolkata in connection with an online share-trading fraud in which a 22-year-old resident of Chikhali lost Rs84 lakh.A police team led by senior police inspector Ravikiran Nale arrested the accused, Abhishek Acharekar (34) of Goa and Anmol Sharma (32) of Kolkata. Police investigations revealed that Acharekar had procured more than 50 bank accounts from citizens by promising them loans. He handed these accounts over to Sharma. “Investigations so far have revealed that transactions worth over Rs100 crore were made through these mule bank accounts,” assistant police inspector Pravin Swami of the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police said.The complainant, who is pursuing his studies, also helps his father in their lubricant oil business. In February this year, the crooks contacted him through a social media platform and assured him a 500% profit on his share investments through them. The crooks gained his confidence by claiming that their firm was recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). They then took money from him in different bank accounts and duped him of Rs84 lakh till June this year.Swami said investigations revealed that Rs 3 lakh of the fraud amount was transferred to a joint bank account in Goa. Acharekar was one of the account holders. “He owned a few hotels in Goa. He was untraceable. With the help of technical investigations, our team located him at Khed Shivapur recently and arrested him,” Swami said.The officer said that during sustained questioning, Acharekar admitted to accepting amounts from cyberfraudsters in the bank accounts and revealed the name of Sharma. “PSI Prakash Katkade and his team took Sharma into custody from Kolkata with the help of the local police. Sharma’s father is a businessman from Kolkata,” the officer said.He said investigations revealed that Acharekar had provided bank accounts to Sharma, who then provided them to his handler based in Odisha. “Acharekar opened at least eight bank accounts. He even procured bank accounts from common people, mainly women, by promising them loans. We found that transactions worth over Rs100 crore were made through these bank accounts,” he said.
