The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime branch has arrested four alleged members of a Dubai-linked cyber fraud network accused of cheating a trader of ₹57.92 lakh through fake stock-trading applications and targeting more than 80 people across 15 states.
According to the Sandesh report, the arrests followed technical surveillance and confidential information received by the police. The four accused were apprehended from Ahmedabad and Vadodara, including alleged kingpin Istiak Riyawala, along with Irfan Sheikh, Soheb Jojavarwala and Shehzad Ajmerwala.
The gang allegedly used social media advertisements promising short-term, high and guaranteed returns from share trading and initial public offerings. After establishing contact with prospective victims, the accused allegedly persuaded them to download two applications named JB X One and ID-QSB.
The applications displayed a fake dashboard showing share purchases, sales and profits, according to the preliminary investigation cited in the report. When victims attempted to withdraw their money, the accused allegedly demanded additional payments under the names of taxes and processing fees. In one complaint, this process allegedly resulted in the victim paying ₹57.92 lakh in instalments.
Police reportedly seized more than 30 bank-account kits, cheque books, debit cards, mobile phones and other material during the raids. The investigation alleges that Riyawala obtained bank accounts, debit cards and net-banking kits from ordinary account holders by paying commissions. These banking materials were then allegedly transferred through hawala and other digital channels to handlers based in Dubai for cyber fraud and money laundering.
The case points to the role of bank-account intermediaries in enabling digital financial fraud. Accounts opened or controlled by third parties can be used to receive and move funds, making it harder for investigators to trace the final beneficiaries of fraudulent transactions. The seized banking kits are expected to form part of the police investigation into the network’s financial operations.
Checks on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal reportedly found more than 80 complaints linked to the four accused across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan and more than 10 other states. Police also found transactions exceeding ₹50 crore in the accounts associated with the accused, the report said.
The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime branch is preparing to inform the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department about the suspected transactions. The investigation is expected to examine the source and movement of the funds, the people whose bank credentials were allegedly used, and the wider network connecting the local accused to the Dubai-based handlers.
