₹635-Crore Cyber Fraud Network Busted in Gujarat, 6 Arrested

AMRELI :  A massive cyber fraud network allegedly built on the promise of high daily returns and cashback on investments has been busted by Amreli Police, exposing a ₹635-crore trail spanning Gujarat and several other parts of the country. Six people have been arrested in what police describe as one of the state’s biggest multi-crore investment fraud networks.

The accused allegedly lured investors through mobile applications, primarily SD Pay and Apna Pay, promising daily cashback on investments. Police investigations have uncovered transactions and deposits exceeding ₹635 crore across 15 bank accounts linked to seven allegedly bogus companies.

The companies included S.D. Hub, Shiv Dharti Communication and Upaya DG, among others. An SIT headed by IPS officer Jaiveer Gadhvi has been constituted to investigate the network and trace its wider financial and digital links.

Police said the scam had spread across Gujarat, with a large number of small investors from metropolitan centres including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Surat allegedly falling prey to the scheme.

More than 10 lakh SD Pay downloads

The SD Pay application was reportedly made available through the Google Play Store and had crossed 10 lakh downloads and users. Investigators have also found that the arrested accused allegedly brought around 2.5 lakh people into the network through referral mechanisms.

The scale of the operation is further indicated by 83 cyber fraud complaints registered across the country against bank accounts associated with the companies on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), according to police.

Daily cashback used as bait

The SD Pay app allegedly offered cashback based on the amount invested. Investors putting in ₹1,000 to ₹25,000 were promised 0.15% daily cashback, while investments between ₹25,000 and ₹1 lakh attracted 0.20%. The rate rose to 0.25% for investments between ₹1 lakh and ₹5 lakh and 0.30% daily for investments above ₹5 lakh.

The application also offered facilities such as bill payments, mobile recharge and referral-based incentives, which investigators suspect were used to make the platform appear legitimate and attract more users.

Police believe the referral system created multiple layers of recruitment, with cashback bonuses encouraging existing users to bring in additional investors.

Six arrested

The arrested accused have been identified as Ashishbhai Chhaganbhai Gedia and Bhaveshbhai Chauhan of Surat; Nishi Satyanarayan Prasad, Sohilbhai Jitendrakumar Makwana and Nivarkumar Arvindbhai Patel of Mehsana; and Suryasinh Jagatsinh Rathod.

With the SIT now examining the money trail and digital infrastructure, investigators are expected to determine the full scale of the alleged fraud, identify additional suspects and assess the losses suffered by investors.