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In a major breakthrough, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) of Delhi arrested the main accused in the HiBox Investment scam, a large-scale fraud that duped over 30,000 people by luring them into investing in the HiBox mobile application.
The special unit of Delhi IFSO arrested a 30-year-old resident of New Washermanpet in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and recovered Rs 18 crore, seizing four bank accounts in the process. The scam, valued at approximately Rs 500 crore, involved promising high returns on investments, with false assurances of daily interest rates ranging from 1 per cent to 5 per cent. Many victims were drawn in through the promotion of the app by popular social media influencers and YouTubers. The entire amount of victims was deposited in four accounts of a company registered in the name of the accused who was also the Director of the company. According to the police, the accused was one of the main conspirators and registrant of the company, as well as the owner of the payment gateways and the four bank accounts used for the receiving of the investment amounts. However, a few co-conspirators are still at large, the police added. Till now, two cases related to the HiBox scam are being investigated by IFSO, with 127 complaints registered related to it. Summons were also issued to some social media influencers and YouTubers in relation to phase 1 of the investigation. Moreover, certain payment gateway apps are also under probe by IFSO, as the merchant accounts of the fraudsters operating HiBox were opened virtually without following the due verification process and bypassing laid down norms of RBI through these payment apps and the involvement of the employees of these apps can't be ruled out of the investigation, the police said. HiBox is a mobile application that was part of a well-planned scam, which lured innocent individuals with the help of social media influencers and YouTubers, convincing them to invest in the platform. The accused persons enticed investors by promising guaranteed returns of 1 per cent to 5 per cent daily, amounting to 30 per cent to 90 per cent monthly returns. As a result, over 30,000 people invested their hard-earned money in the app. However, the platform has since stopped releasing funds to the investors, and the alleged companies have disappeared after closing their offices in Noida in Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)
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