Mumbai Man, 72, Loses Rs 35 Crore In Trade Fraud. He Was Unaware For 4 Years

A 72-year-old Mumbai man was left reeling after losing Rs 35 crore in a trading scam that spanned four years. Bharat Harakchand Shah, a resident of Matunga West, alleged that a brokerage firm, Globe Capital Market Limited, used his wife's account for unauthorised trading over four years.

What Happened?

Shah, who runs a low-rent guest house for cancer patients in Parel, alongside his wife, inherited a share portfolio after his father died in 1984. But since the couple did not possess any knowledge of the stock market, they never actively traded.

The fraud allegedly began in 2020. Following a friend's suggestion, Shah opened a Demat and trading account for himself and his wife with Globe Capital Markets Limited and transferred their inherited shares to the company.

Initially, interactions were straightforward. Company representatives contacted Shah regularly, making several appealing assurances. They told Shah that no additional investment would be needed for trading and that shares could be safely traded using them as collateral.

The company representatives told Shah that "personal guides" would be assigned to him by the company. Under this guise, two employees, Akshay Baria and Karan Siroya, were put in charge of "managing" his portfolio. That's when they took complete control of Shah and his wife's account.

According to the FIR, the situation escalated quickly. The two representatives initially called daily, instructing Shah on which orders to place. Soon after, the employees began making home visits, sending emails from their own laptops.

Shah says he was manipulated into giving over all the required information. He entered every OTP, opened and responded to every SMS and email. Shah was only given the information he needed to know. The company took complete control of his account.

Shah was unaware that extensive trading activities were being conducted through his accounts. Between March 2020 and June 2024, the annual statements he received consistently showed "profits." With a clean statement arriving every year, Shah had no reason to suspect any misconduct.

How Did The Fraud Come To Light?

The deception shattered in July 2024 when Shah received a sudden call from Globe Capital's Risk Management Department saying, "You and your wife have a debit balance of Rs 35 crore in your accounts. You must pay it immediately, or your shares will be sold."

When he visited the company, he was informed that massive, unauthorised trading had occurred. Shares worth crores had been sold, and numerous 'circular trades' (transactions conducted with the same party) had pushed the account deep into a loss.

Faced with the immediate threat of losing his remaining assets, Shah reluctantly sold his remaining shares and paid the entire ₹35 crore debt. He then transferred the leftover shares to a different company.

It was only when he downloaded the original, comprehensive trading statement from Globe's website and compared it to the "profit" statements he had received via email that the full extent of the fraud became clear. He discovered significant discrepancies between the two records.

Furthermore, he learned the company had received multiple notices from the NSE (National Stock Exchange). The company responded to these notices using Shah's name, yet he says he was never informed of any of them. The actual trading history was vastly different from what was shown.

"For four years, the company presented us with a false picture, while the actual losses continued to mount," Shah said.

Shah called it an "organised financial fraud." He filed an FIR with the Vanrai police station. The case, registered under IPC sections including 409 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and 420 (Cheating), has now been handed over to the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for further investigation.