Delhi Police’s IFSO wing has arrested one person and issued notices to several social media influencers and YouTubers, including Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, YouTuber Elvish Yadav and comedian Bharti Singh, for promoting an app-based scam that has defrauded people of ₹500 crore, an officer said on Thursday.
The police received over 127 complaints alleging that many social media influencers and YouTubers promoted the mobile application, called HIBOX, on their pages and lured people into investing in it, DCP (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari said.
“HIBOX is a mobile application that was part of a well-planned scam through which the accused promised guaranteed returns of one to five percent daily, amounting to 30% to 90% in a month,” the DCP said.
The app was launched in February. In the initial months, the investors received high returns. However, from July, the app withheld payments citing technical glitches and legal issues, the police said.
“Over 30,000 people invested in the app,” the DCP added.
Notices have also been issued to influencers Saurav Joshi, Abhishek Malhan, Purav Jha, Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, and Amit and Dilraj Singh Rawat.
The main accused, Sivaram, a resident of Chennai, has been arrested and ₹18 crore has been seized from four of his accounts, the DCP said.
The police at present are investigating the roles of Easebuzz and Phonepe as the merchant accounts of the fraudsters operating HIBOX and are also probing the role played by their employees, as they did not follow the verification process and bypassed the norms laid down by RBI, the DCP added.
Further, the police has also identified 20 other companies who were involved with the app in money laundering.
Published – October 04, 2024 12:59 am IST