Fraudster held for cheating man of Rs. 17 lakh on pretext of investing in cryptocurrency

The police have arrested a man for allegedly duping a person of ₹17 lakh on the pretext of investing in cryptocurrency.

Police received a complaint in which it was alleged that the victim had been cheated of ₹17 lakh on the pretext of investing in Bitcoin. (HT_PRINT)

The police have arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly duping a person of ₹17 lakh on the pretext of investing in cryptocurrency, officials said on Monday.

The accused has been identified as Sarik Naseem, a resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

On October 10, police received a complaint in which it was alleged that the victim had been cheated of ₹17 lakh on the pretext of investing in Bitcoin, a senior police officer said.

During investigation, police analysed the the bank account statement of the victim and coordinated with officials of the bank where the cheated money was transferred and freezed the beneficiary account, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said.

The location of the accused was later narrowed down in Aligarh area from where the amount was withdrawn from an ATM. A raid was conducted and Naseem arrested, the DCP said.

Police said ₹3,84,897 was freezed in the bank accounts. Five debit cards and two cheque books of different banks were recovered from him, police said.

He disclosed that he also provided bank account's details and access for mobile banking apps to a person and his associates on a commission basis.