Amreli Police bust ₹634 crore SD Pay, Apna Pay scam; over 1.5 lakh duped across Gujarat

Amreli: The Amreli Cyber Crime Police have busted a major financial fraud allegedly involving around ₹634 crore, with more than 1.5 lakh people across Gujarat reportedly lured into investing through mobile applications SD Pay and Apna Pay on promises of extraordinary returns in a short period.

Police have arrested six accused from Surat, Gandhinagar, Mehsana and other locations in connection with the alleged scam. A case has been registered at the Amreli Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Information Technology Act, and further investigation is underway.

According to police, the accused allegedly operated the applications by promising daily returns on investments ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹25,000. They also allegedly attracted users by offering services such as online banking, bill payments, mobile recharges and cashback, while promising returns ranging from small amounts to lakhs of rupees.

The SD Pay application had reportedly recorded more than 10 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. Police said the accused initially got 271 people to invest through the SD Pay account and subsequently built a network of around 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh people through different levels, encouraging them to invest money.

During the investigation, police reportedly received 83 cyber fraud complaints linked to bank accounts associated with different companies. Transactions involving disputed amounts, including one of around ₹76.84 lakh, were detected.

Police said approximately ₹634 crore was deposited through 15 bank accounts operated by seven different companies in connection with the alleged fraud. Investigators also identified around 30 to 35 bank accounts linked to the accused across different banks.

The arrested accused have been identified as Ashish Chhagan Gedia of Surat’s Katargam, Bhavesh Dhiru Chauhan of Surat, originally from Savarkundla, Nishi Satyanarayan Prasad, originally from Bihar, Sohil Jitendra Makwana of Mehsana, Nirav Arvind Patel of Mehsana, and Surya Singh Jagatsingh Rathod of Gandhinagar. Police said Rathod, who was allegedly the director of the company involved, was also arrested.

Amreli SP Sanjay Kharat said the police had acted against the network after identifying large-scale deposit transactions and suspected cyber fraud. The financial transactions and bank accounts linked to the accused are being examined as part of the ongoing investigation.

Police are now probing the complete flow of the ₹634 crore, the number of investors affected and the role of other individuals and companies allegedly linked to the network. DeshGujarat