Pune police have arrested a social media influencer for allegedly channelling over Rs 10.74 crore siphoned off an elderly man in a "digital arrest" scam through more than 5,400 bank accounts, with investigators tracing links to handlers in Hong Kong.
The accused, identified as Rohan Jadhav, surrendered in court after police froze all his bank accounts and financial assets, officials said, NDTV reported.
The fraud dates back to January this year, when a gang of cyber criminals posing as Central Bureau of Investigation officers contacted a senior citizen and told him he was named in a criminal case, said the report.
Threatening him with "digital arrest" and legal action, the fraudsters coerced him into transferring Rs 10.74 crore across multiple bank accounts.
The victim approached police after realising he had been duped.
Investigators traced the money trail after one of the accused withdrew cash from an ATM, leading to the arrest of three men — Harshad Subhash Dhantole, Samarth Suresh Deshmukh and Amar Shivaji Attargi.
During questioning, Dhantole told police he had handed over the withdrawn cash to Jadhav, who was then absconding.
Police said Jadhav, originally from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, moved the entire defrauded amount through 5,436 different bank accounts.
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He allegedly stayed in touch with contacts in Hong Kong over Telegram, frequently communicating with them on video calls, and settled accounts with his overseas handlers through cryptocurrency, earning a hefty commission for converting and routing the funds abroad, investigators said.
Jadhav, who built a following as a social media "reel star," also ran a celebrity management business, officials added. With police cornering him after freezing his financial assets, he eventually gave himself up in court.
Two separate cases have been registered against Jadhav — one in Pune and another in Pimpri-Chinchwad, police said.
Police Inspector Swapnali Shinde is leading the probe into the case, which investigators say points to a wider network of cross-border cyber fraud operating through layered bank transfers and crypto payments.
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