Digital Arrest Racket: Main Accused in Hibox Investment Scam Arrested by Delhi Police

New Delhi: In a major development in the Hibox Investment Scam, the main accused who is also a registrant in the company and co-conspirator in the racket, has been arrested by the IFSO Unit of the Delhi Police.

Digital Arrest Scam: Main Accused Arrested

In a major breakthrough, IFSO has arrested the main accused in Hibox Investment Scam. He is one of the main conspirator and registrant of the company as well as owner of the payment gateways and owns the four bank accounts used for the receiving of the investment amounts.

All four bank accounts blocked and a total of approximately Rs 18 crore has been been marked. A few co-conspirators are a still at large. 

Social Media Influencers Summoned

There are some social media influencers who had promoted the Hibox application; those influencers have also been summoned by the Delhi Police.

Abhishek Malhan, @FukraInsaan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary and Purav Jha are the social media influencers who will join the investigation.

The Special Cell’s IFSO Unit of the Delhi Police has busted an international syndicate running a fake digital arrest scam by arresting three suspects involved in IVR fraud, also allegedly known as digital arrest. The accused of the syndicate impersonated officials from the police, CBI, customs, and other government bodies and used to threaten the victims with arrest or penalties over some prohibited parcels. Further in the name of resolving the issue, they used to defraud them.

As per the police, on September 12, 2024, a complaint was filed at IFSO, Special Cell, wherein the complainant alleged that on the morning of September 9, 2024, she received a phone call wherein someone claimed to be an officer at the Customs Office, Mumbai Airport. After confirming her identity, the caller informed her that customs officials had intercepted a parcel on September 6, 2024, containing 16 fake passports, 58 ATM cards, and 40 grams of MDMA, with her details listed as the sender. He further claimed that the Mumbai Police had issued an arrest warrant against her, and she must surrender.

The police further stated that the fraudsters escalated the intimidation by asserting that a CBI investigation was underway and that her arrest was imminent. Till the pendency of physical arrest, she was put under “digital arrest” by keeping continuous surveillance through WhatsApp video calls. Over the course of these calls, different individuals posing as senior officers from the Mumbai Police, CBI and various law enforcement agencies, pressured her to transfer funds under the pretext of verifying her accounts to avoid money laundering charges. In total, she was defrauded of Rs 55 lakhs.

A senior police official said that given the severity of the offence, a special team led by Inspector Ram Niwas and Inspector Sunil Kumar consisting of ASI Sanjay, HC Rajesh and HC Samay Singh was constituted under the supervision of ACP Jai Parkash. Through a detailed analysis of mobile numbers and bank accounts used by the suspects, investigators identified the proprietors of a fake company. With the aid of mobile and technical surveillance, the police traced and arrested three accused Prabhat Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, and Arjun Singh in Burari. Prabhat and Rajesh were found to be the proprietors of the company, which was used to funnel the defrauded funds. Passbooks, cheque books, company banners, and other documents were seized.