Surat: Three persons have been booked for allegedly cheating three Surat traders of Rs 1.18 crore by promising attractive returns on cryptocurrency investments. The case was registered at Lal Gate police station on October 8 following a complaint by a zari trader.According to the complaint filed by Shailesh Rana, a zari trader in Surat, the accused, Krunal Rana, allegedly lured him, his brother Kishor Rana and their friend Nicky Biscuitwala into investing money by promising lucrative returns. Krunal allegedly introduced his associates, Aditya Thakkar and Pinal Baraiya, as his business partners.The complainant alleged that the three victims transferred substantial amounts to the accused over a period of time. To gain their trust, the accused initially returned some money before encouraging them to invest larger amounts through a cryptocurrency trading app.The accused allegedly continued to demand more money, promising higher returns. At one point, they claimed that the victims’ cryptocurrency accounts had been frozen due to technical issues and demanded additional payments to unfreeze the funds.According to the complaint, Shailesh Rana transferred Rs 24.38 lakh, while his brother Kishor Rana invested Rs 29.51 lakh. Their friend also transferred Rs 65 lakh to the accused. However, the accused allegedly refused to return the money.The complainant further alleged that several other people in Surat may have been cheated in a similar manner.Lal Gate police have launched an investigation to establish the role of each accused and trace the money allegedly collected from the complainant and the other victims.
