The Navi Mumbai cyber police conducting the investigation into cryptocurrency fraud have frozen several bank accounts containing amounts worth Rs 32.66 crore, an official said on Wednesday.
Senior police inspector Gajanan Kadam of the cyber police station in Navi Mumbai said they had received a cheating complaint in August from a man who claimed to have invested over Rs 6.6 crore in cryptocurrency trading.
The man stated in the complaint that a female caller befriended him and later asked him to invest in cryptocurrency trading while ensuring good returns.
When the complainant started investing huge amounts, he received a total of Rs 75 lakh in returns on several occasions but later stopped getting the same, the official said.
In this regard, an offense has been registered with the cyber police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
A police team inquired with various banks as to where the money was paid by the complainant and as a first step, got accounts worth Rs 32,66,12,091 frozen in the last few weeks, the official said.
Based on various leads, the investigation team zeroed in on two persons from Ghatkopar in neighboring Mumbai in the last week of September.
Police later arrested the two persons, identified as Balu Sakharam Khandagale (42) and Rajendra Ramkhilavan Patel (52), the official said.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the arrested persons had transferred mobile numbers, bank account details, check books and debit cards of several persons to others involved in the crime.
Efforts are on to nab the others involved in the crime, police added.
