The accused promised monthly returns 12-15 times on the initial investment in a cryptocurrency scheme to lure potential investors between May 2022 and March 2024, an official said
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The Thane Police in Maharashtra has booked 20 persons for allegedly cheating investors of Rs 26 lakh in a cryptocurrency investment fraud in Thane district, an official said on Monday, the PTI reported.
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The accused promised monthly returns 12-15 times on the initial investment in a cryptocurrency scheme to lure potential investors between May 2022 and March 2024, he said.
"They lured people by meeting them and also contacting them over the phone, and assured lucrative returns on their investment in cryptocurrencies," the official said.
The victims were left high and dry as the accused stopped answering their calls and never returned the investment, he added.
Nobody has been arrested so far, said a Thane Nagar police station official, the news agency reported.
Among the investors are a 41-year-old mobile repair technician and others, an official said.
Meanwhile, in an another incident, the police have arrested two persons for allegedly duping a businessman of nearly Rs 18 crore by illegally selling him a land owned by the Maharashtra government's agency CIDCO in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Monday, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, the role of some officials of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and revenue department is also under the scanner for allegedly helping the accused in the crime, he said.
The Navi Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Friday arrested the two accused on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, the official said.
During the probe, the police found their property has been acquired by CIDCO, for which they received compensation, but they later allegedly forged property documents and sold the same plot to the businessman, he said, the news agency reported.
The police were also searching for their associates, the PTI reported on Monday.
The businessman in a police complaint filed last year claimed he was lured into investing money in the land, the official said.
The complainant alleged that two other suspects, some local real estate agents and the arrested accused handed him forged NOCs (no objection certificates) and fraudulent documents of the property, he said.
Search was on for a real estate agent and some others involved in the fraud, the police added, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
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