Police claimed to have busted a massive cyber fraud and money-laundering racket in which more than 1,000 people across India were duped through fake investment platforms, “digital arrest” scams, and other forms of online financial fraud, allegedly benefiting Kolkata-based industrialist Pawan Kumar Ruia and his family.
The cyber fraud network, which was active since 2024, was a highly sophisticated and organised syndicate with links across multiple states and digital platforms, police sources told
News18.Pawan Kumar Ruia, his family members, and several linked companies have been booked on charges of money laundering in the Rs 300-crore cyber fraud case by the West Bengal cybercrime wing.
According to the FIR, exclusively accessed by News18, some
members of the Ruia family were direct beneficiaries of illegal funds traced through multiple shell companies and cryptocurrency transactions. The suo motu complaint, filed by the cybercrime wing, was initiated after investigators uncovered suspicious transactions during a probe into an earlier case registered at the Bidhannagar cybercrime police station earlier this year.
This is not the first time Pawan Ruia is in trouble with the law. Earlier in 2016, state police had raided his New Delhi residence in Sunder Nagar and arrested him following a complaint filed by the Indian Railways. This was in connection to the alleged disappearance of goods and equipment worth Rs 50 crore, belonging to the railways and stored at the Dum Dum unit of wagon manufacturer Jessop & Company Ltd.
TRAIL OF FAKE COMPANIES AND ACCOUNTS
The FIR states that a portion of the fraud money from the earlier case was found in an account, which was swiftly siphoned off to another account belonging to Hughli Machineries Pvt Ltd.
These funds were later moved again between different accounts of the same company, while further investigation revealed that this company maintained 11 current accounts linked to the same PAN card that were used for extensive layering of funds.
A search of the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) showed that 544 cyber fraud cases were connected to these accounts, involving funds worth Rs 97 crore. The FIR states that these 11 accounts are linked with multiple interconnected companies.
Investigators found that many of these firms shared common directors and addresses, with 147 registered under the same Registrar of Companies (ROC) in Kolkata and 73 operating from a single office address on Ezra Street. But a physical verification of the address found no such office existed.
INVESTIGATION AND RAIDS
The NCRP database revealed that 1,379 complaints have been filed against accounts linked to this network, involving a cumulative amount of more than Rs 300 crore.
The money trail outlined in the FIR indicates that Pawan Ruia, Raghav Ruia, and another associate were involved in routing fraud money through multiple mule accounts and cryptocurrency wallets.
Police sources said the FIR specifically names four members of the Ruia family as key beneficiaries of this large-scale fraud. Investigators have identified direct credit transfers of fraud money from at least 23 complainants into the bank accounts linked to the Ruia network.
They said a coordinated investigation has been launched to trace the money trail, freeze associated accounts, and identify the extent of the financial network. Two raids have already been conducted at suspected premises, and more searches and arrests are likely as the investigation progresses, they added.
