Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Goa’s Cyber Crime Police have arrested a man from Maharashtra in connection with a massive online investment fraud in which a senior citizen from Panaji was cheated of ₹4.74 crore through a fake IPO scheme impersonating a reputed financial firm.
The offence was registered on September 24, 2025, under Crime No. 35/2025 at the Cyber Crime Police Station, invoking Sections 318(4), 319(2) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Section 66-D of the IT Act.
Police said the accused, identified as Avishkar Devidas Suradkar, a resident of Gayranwadi, Mandura, Badnaour in Jalna, Maharashtra, posed as a representative of “PTM-QIB,” a fake entity mimicking Paytm Money, and lured the victim via WhatsApp and a YouTube channel into investing in a non-existent IPO scheme. Believing that a substantial number of shares had been allotted, the complainant transferred a total of ₹4.74 crore.
Following an extensive technical and financial investigation, a Goa Police team led by PSI Sherwin Da’Costa, HC Viraj Narvekar, and PC Virendra Wadkar, under the supervision of SP Rahul Gupta, IPS, ASP B.V. Shridevi, IPS, and PI Deepak Pednekar, traced and arrested the accused in Jalna.
Investigations revealed that Suradkar had received ₹80 lakh in his bank account at the initial transaction layer, later routing the funds to multiple accounts belonging to associates. The same account has been linked to eight other cyber fraud cases across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, and Goa, amounting to a cumulative fraud of ₹13.10 crore.
Police have also identified Mrs. Malathi B.N of Bangalore as another accused, who had received ₹30 lakh in her account and transferred it to other linked accounts. She has been served a notice under Sections 35(3) to 35(6) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act and directed to cooperate with the investigation.
The arrested accused was produced before the court and remanded to police custody. Further investigation is being carried out under the supervision of PI Deepak Pednekar.
