Surat, Nov 2 : A man posing as a government cyber forensic specialist allegedly cheated a Surat-based petrochemical businessman of Rs 1.24 crore by promising lucrative returns through forex trading, cryptocurrency and overseas funds, before using the money to purchase property and luxury cars in Mumbai, police said on Monday.
The Surat City Cyber Crime Cell has arrested the main accused, Priyank Vyas, 34, from Mira Road in Mumbai.
A chartered accountant, Rohan Kelawala, who allegedly introduced Vyas to the complainant and facilitated the transactions, is absconding.
According to the police, the accused and his associates collected Rs 1,29,25,100 from the complainant and his friend in 21 instalments over 11 months, between November 2025 and October 2026.
Of this, Rs 4.70 lakh was returned to the complainant, leaving Rs 1,24,53,900 unpaid. The fraud came to light after the complainant, a petrochemical businessman, approached a chartered accountant in Surat in November 2025 for assistance with banking and loan-related work.
The accountant allegedly told him that he invested clients' money in forex trading and introduced him to Vyas, describing him as a cyber forensic expert and cryptocurrency specialist. The two met at a hotel in Mumbai.
To gain the businessman's confidence, Vyas allegedly displayed a fake identity card bearing the national emblem and identifying him as "Dr Priyank Samirbhai Vyas – Forensic Cyber Crime Specialist, Cyber Forensic Department, Mumbai".
He also claimed that his car carried a government board and used a UPI ID named 'fslcyberforensic' and an email address named 'fslmumbai'. Vyas initially sought Rs 18 lakh, claiming that the amount was required to renew the IP address of a terminal developed by him.
He promised to return Rs 30 lakh within 60 days and also offered the complainant a 20 per cent partnership in his business. On January 21 this year, the complainant sent Rs 18 lakh in cash to the chartered accountant's office.
The accused subsequently communicated with the complainant through a 'Work' group on the BOTIM application, discussing IP purchases, software updates, cryptocurrency transactions and pre-authorised cards.
Screenshots of USDT transactions and photographs of VISA cards issued by foreign banks were allegedly shared to reinforce the impression that the transactions were genuine.
Between February and October 2026, Vyas allegedly demanded further payments on various pretexts, including a Rs 15 crore server fund, a Rs 153 crore fund from Argentina, the withdrawal of 5.3 million US dollars from a card and the recovery of Bitcoin from the wallet of a person in Nashik.
The money was collected as gas fees, transaction charges, withdrawal charges, processing fees and personal loans through cash, bank transfers, Google Pay, angadia channels and USDT.
Police said the accused repeatedly displayed large balances on a laptop, sent screenshots showing 'Transaction Success' and subsequently claimed that transactions had failed.
He cited reasons such as IP-related banking errors, withdrawal limit issues, an Ethereum server outage and 83,768 ETH being blocked because of the size of a transaction.
He also claimed that a wallet audit had identified 17 errors, comprising 15 yellow and two red alerts, and demanded additional fees to resolve them.
The accused allegedly returned small amounts at intervals, including Rs one lakh, Rs 15,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3.5 lakh, to maintain the victims' confidence and persuade them to make further payments.
On some occasions, the complainant and his friends were called to hotel rooms in Mumbai, where Vyas allegedly demonstrated a purported live transfer of 1.96 BTC on a laptop described as a government terminal.
He also added the complainant's bank account as a beneficiary and shared screenshots showing 'Payment Initiated', 'RTGS' and 'Withdrawal Processed Successfully'.
The police said the money was not used for any server, fund or cryptocurrency transactions. Instead, Vyas allegedly purchased a property in Mumbai worth around Rs 1.5 crore, bought a BMW luxury car and booked another flat for which he paid approximately Rs 80 lakh as a token amount.
Investigators are collecting documentary evidence to establish that these assets were acquired using the proceeds of the fraud and initiate legal action for their seizure or freezing.
The investigation has also revealed two other alleged victims in Surat. One of the complainant's friends paid Rs 74.90 lakh in instalments through bank transfers and cash, while another Surat resident allegedly paid Rs 7.5 lakh.
Police suspect that the accused may have collected nearly Rs two crore from victims in the city and are investigating whether more people were cheated.
Police said Vyas and Kelawala had earlier been cheated while trading on a platform named GlobalSwiftPay.
Although the platform displayed large US dollar balances, the money could not be withdrawn. Investigators suspect that the two subsequently used the same concept of displaying fictitious balances and demanding fees to cheat others.
The police also alleged that Kelawala played a key role in introducing the complainant to Vyas. He had assured the businessman that the money would be returned with profits within 30 days and said the responsibility for repayment was his.
He received the initial Rs 18 lakh at his office and sent a message stating '1800 received'. He was also the administrator of the BOTIM group and shared transaction screenshots and photographs of foreign bank cards.
When the complainant sought updates, he allegedly replied, 'Waiting bro'. The case was registered at the Surat City Cyber Crime Police Station on October 30 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
The FIR includes Sections 318(4), 204, 205, 336(2), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the BNS. A team led by Police Inspector N R Patel conducted the investigation under the supervision of senior officials.
Investigators analysed transaction records, wallet screenshots and trace reports, and verified wallet addresses and transaction IDs through blockchain explorers.
Technical analysis and human intelligence led the team to Vyas's location at Mira Road in Mumbai.
Police have seized two mobile phones, two laptops, two hard disks, two pen drives, three cryptocurrency wallet cards, a chip, the fake Cyber Forensic Department identity card, a card of the Crime Grievance and Intelligence Council, two cheque books, two bank passbooks and documents relating to a flat in Mira Road.
A BMW and a Honda City were also seized. The police have valued the seized items at a total of Rs 9.65 lakh. Kelawala remains absconding, and efforts are underway to arrest him.
The police have urged people to verify investment platforms and brokers before transferring money, avoid offers promising guaranteed or unusually high returns, and refrain from paying additional amounts in the name of withdrawal or tax-processing fees.
