A former Larsen & Toubro (L&T) officer and retired lawyer from Mumbai has been defrauded of Rs 9.94 crore in a cyber scam run under the guise of a reputed financial firm.
Ghanshyam Machhindra Mhatre, a 65-year-old resident of Mulund, was allegedly lured into investing through a fake trading app by scammers posing as officials of Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers Ltd.
The fraud began in June, when Mhatre, who earlier served as Admin and Industrial Relations Head at L&T and was working as a legal consultant, received a WhatsApp message from a woman named Suman Gupta.
Claiming to be an “admin” at Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers Ltd, Gupta invited him to invest through a trading app called “AR Trade Mobi”, described as the company's official investment platform.
To appear credible, she shared a download link and asked for KYC details, including Mhatre's PAN and other information.
Soon after, Mhatre was added to a WhatsApp group titled “Anand Rathi VIP 12”, where multiple participants posed as market analysts and investment advisors. They shared stock updates, IPO alerts, and mutual fund recommendations, giving the appearance of genuine financial operations.
The app began showing steady profits, leading Mhatre to believe his investments were growing. Encouraged by these results, he continued investing larger amounts over time.
Between June and November, Mhatre transferred Rs 9,94,76,958 to several bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. Each payment was described as part of investments in IPOs or mutual funds.
Later, when he tried to withdraw his earnings, every transaction failed. The scammers claimed there were technical glitches and later demanded extra money for taxes and commissions.
Realising something was wrong, Mhatre visited the Anand Rathi office in Malad (East), where officials confirmed that no one named Suman Gupta worked there and that the “AR Trade Mobi” app had no link to the company.
It became clear that he had been caught in a well-planned online investment fraud.
Mhatre then filed a complaint with the East Region Cyber Police (Shivajinagar), which registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act against ten unidentified persons.
Investigators suspect that the accused are part of a nationwide network operating fake WhatsApp groups under the names of reputed financial institutions to lure victims with false promises of high returns.
Police have begun tracing the money trail and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest the perpetrators behind the scam.
