In a major crackdown on organised cyber investment fraud, the West District Cyber police station of the Delhi Police busted an illegal forex trading call centre operating from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and arrested six accused allegedly involved in duping people across the country through fake online investment schemes, officials said on Friday.
The police said the syndicate operated through a manipulated trading platform called “Meta Quotees”, which was used to lure victims into investing money by displaying fabricated profits and fake trading gains.
The accused have been identified as Kartik Aggarwal, alleged mastermind and owner of the operation; Raja Aggarwal, co-owner of the call centre; and team leaders Harsh Keshre, Nikhil Bhalse, Deepak Umath and Vipin Yadav.
According to the police, the case was registered at police station Cyber West following a complaint lodged through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) by Manoj Chauhan. He alleged that he was contacted by a woman and persuaded to invest in forex trading through the “Meta Quotees” platform.
Investigators said the complainant was repeatedly induced to deposit money on various pretexts, including leverage charges, GST, penalties, TDS and account unlocking fees. During investigation, the police found that he had transferred Rs 10.51 lakh into multiple bank accounts allegedly operated by the fraudsters.
The investigation eventually led the police team to BJT Global Pvt Ltd, located at Corporate House on RNT Marg in Indore. During the raid, the police found a fully operational illegal call centre where 41 persons, including 35 tele-callers, were allegedly engaged in contacting potential victims and convincing them to invest in fake forex trading schemes.
The police said the syndicate used fake identities, mule bank accounts, forged SIM cards and layered banking channels to execute the fraud and conceal the money trail.
During the raid, the police seized 47 mobile phones, 46 SIM cards, 29 computer systems, cheque books, debit cards, POS swipe machines, routers, a MacBook, account kits, rubber stamps and foreign currency, along with Rs 1.21 lakh in cash. Investigators said Kartik had previously worked in brokerage and trading-related firms before allegedly entering illegal forex trading operations.
The police further revealed that client databases were allegedly purchased through Telegram channels and online platforms such as IndiaMart. Tele-callers then contacted prospective victims using fake names and persuaded them to invest in products such as gold, silver, Nifty, Bank Nifty and USDT trading.
