MP’s biggest online trading scam? 70-year-old CA loses Rs 21 crore in crypto investment fraud

BHOPAL: In what could be Madhya Pradesh's biggest online trading cyber fraud, a 70-year-old chartered accountant from Gwalior allegedly lost over Rs 21.05 crore after cyber criminals lured him into investing in a fake cryptocurrency trading platform over seven months.The victim, Ashok Vijayvargiya, chief election officer of the Gwalior Chamber of Commerce, approached the state cyber cell after discovering that the online trading portal he had been using was fraudulent.According to his complaint, the scam began when a woman contacted him on WhatsApp and persuaded him to invest in USDT (Tether) and Bitcoin trading through a platform that appeared legitimate and showed impressive returns.To gain his trust, the fraudsters allowed Vijayvargiya to withdraw an initial profit of Rs 1.88 lakh after his first investment. Convinced the platform was genuine, he invested larger sums over the following seven months. He also encouraged several relatives and acquaintances to invest after seeing the profits displayed on the portal.The fraud unravelled when Vijayvargiya tried to withdraw his entire investment.

Instead, the operators allegedly demanded an additional Rs 10.34 crore towards taxes, commissions and processing charges before releasing the funds.Realising he had been duped, Vijayvargiya stopped making payments and filed a complaint with the Madhya Pradesh State Cyber Cell. He alleged that he had transferred Rs 21,05,92,000 to bank accounts specified by the fraudsters during the seven-month period.Cyber investigators have launched a probe to trace the money trail, identify the beneficiary accounts and establish the identities of those behind the scam. Officials are also examining whether the fraud is linked to a larger interstate or international syndicate operating fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. Investigators will analyse bank transactions, digital communications and the fake trading portal as part of the ongoing investigation.