Head of Forex Trading Scam Gang Caught in Bengaluru
The Mumbai crime branch has arrested Krishna Kumar Sharma, the mastermind behind a scam targeting forex traders, from the Taj West End hotel in Bengaluru. Sharma, 29, led a gang that posed as wealthy individuals needing foreign currency to dupe traders.
In March, police arrested three members of Sharma’s gang, including a Bollywood make-up artist, for scamming a forex trader out of $60,000 in Santacruz. The gang’s method involved calling forex traders to five-star hotel suites, collecting the currency, and then fleeing under a pretext.
Sharma has at least five cases against him: three in Mumbai at the Vakola, Airport, and Amboli police stations, one in Delhi, and another in Chennai. The Amboli case dates back to last year, while the others are from this year according to police inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe of the Crime Branch.
In January and February, the gang duped two more traders. One trader lost $35,000, reported at Sahar police station, while another, Paresh Parmar, was scammed out of $25,000 in a Santacruz hotel meeting arranged by a supposed Bollywood make-up artist named Krishnan. Parmar was told the dollars were needed for a film crew’s foreign trip.
During the meeting, one gang member took Parmar and his wife to Krishnan’s room, where they handed over the cash. Krishnan and Sharma then left under various pretexts and never returned, leaving Parmar waiting in vain.
Hotel CCTV footage and other evidence led to the identification and arrest of the gang members. The three arrested in March are in judicial custody, while Sharma is in police custody until May 23.
