Mumbai: Promised returns of Rs 80 crore, a 75-year-old Malabar Hill resident lost Rs 5.4 crore after being lured into investing in the share market by a purported woman he met on a dating app.
He sent the money to various bank accounts in 40 transactions from July 27, 2024, to Feb 12 this year.
The complainant, who is unmarried, told police that came across a profile run by one Akruti Desai, on a dating app that he had been using for a long time. Desai claimed to be from Noida. “We had regular calls and got to know each other well. She said she ran a clothing showroom and I told her that I invest in shares. She told me to invest in a share trade app, and I did it,” he said.
But when he sought to withdraw money through the app, he got back only Rs 20 lakh. When he made enquiries, he was told that he could withdraw his full investment only after paying a 30% tax on his total returns of Rs 80 crore. This is when he realised he had been taken for a ride and approached police.
He submitted to police chats, transactions and other screenshots related to the fraud and his bank statements. A team led by senior inspector Nandkumar Gopale is probing the case.
