Nuts! Korattur exporter loses Rs 29 crore to stocks scamsters

CHENNAI: Lured by the prospect of compounding his wealth in a short time, a peanut exporter from Korattur, an MBA graduate, transferred Rs 29 crore to bank accounts maintained by a con gang operating fake stock trading scams. Only when he realised that the whopping 300 per cent returns he received on his investments within a few months were mere numbers on a fake website, did he turn up before Avadi city police to file a complaint.

Based on the businessman's complaint, Avadi city police's cyber crime wing tracked the money trail and arrested Mohammed Ibrahim (34) of Triplicane. The accused had taken a commission of Rs 22 lakh for providing his bank account details to cyber fraudsters, police investigations revealed. Police suspect Ibrahim's account could be used in several cyber fraud cases across the country.

The victim, R Ashwath of Korattur, has been running a peanuts export firm in Bandikavanoor in Tiruvallur district for the last three years. The firm used to function out of the Parrys Corner area for a decade before that.

According to Ashwath's complaint, in the last week of April, he clicked a link to an advertisement on Instagram, which led to him joining a WhatsApp group offering stock market investment tips.

Believing the 'experts' in the group, Ashwath ended up transferring Rs 29 crore to the bank accounts mentioned in the group. "All along, the scamsters kept him on the hook by showing a fake website which showed his gains as over Rs 100 crore. But, the victim was not able to withdraw or transfer any of his gains after which he realised he was conned," said a police officer.

Based on his complaint, a police team traced the bank accounts to which Ashwath's money was routed and landed at Triplicane and arrested Mohammed Ibrahim. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.