Fraudster dupes 72-year-old Bharatbhai into ₹35 crore stock market fraud:Broker kept showing 18% profit by sending fake statements for 4 years

A 72-year-old elderly businessman lost ₹35 crore in a trading scam. The matter was so serious that he didn’t realise anything for four years. Bharat Harkchand Shah, a resident of Matunga West in Mumbai, has accused brokerage firm Globe Capital Market Limited of unauthorised trading. Read this entire story of how Bharatbhai was cheated: Bharatbhai Shah’s father had bought shares in the 70s-80s. Bharatbhai didn’t even properly know the ABC of the market. Just the dividend would come every year, that was enough. This is from 2020. He met an old friend. He was advised, “Brother, your shares are just lying there. There’s a very good brokerage firm – Globe Capital. Keep your shares with them (as collateral), they will do the trading. You don’t have to do anything, just get 15-18% profit every year while sitting idle.” On this, Shah opened accounts with Globe Capital in his and his wife’s names and transferred all the old shares. People associated with the firm said there would be no extra investment, but personal guides would be provided to manage the portfolio. After this, two boys from the company come – Akshay Baria and Karan Siroya. They were made Shah’s ‘guides’. They said, ‘Uncle, don’t worry at all. We will manage your portfolio. Just tell us whenever you receive an OTP on your phone. We will place the trades.’ Initially, they would ask to place orders over the phone. Then they started coming to the house. They said- Employees sent emails from their laptops and obtained responses for every OTP, SMS and email from Shah. Gradually, they gained full control over the account. From March 2020 to June 2024, large trades continued, but Shah only received ‘profit’ statements via email. “Uncle ji, there’s a good opportunity in Adani this time… just tell me the OTP.” And Bharatbhai would tell the OTP. Every December, a thick PDF would arrive via email. “Your portfolio has returned 18.4%. Total value has now reached so many crores.” Then came that day in July 2024. The phone rang at 10 AM. A stern voice came from the other side – “Mr. Bharat Shah? You and your wife’s account has a total debit balance of ₹35 crore. If the money doesn’t come in 48 hours, we will sell all remaining shares in the market.” Bharatbhai was shocked. He said, “What debit? We were being shown profit every year!” The reply came from the other end – “Uncle, you people were trading in FO daily. There has been a loss. Now either pay the money, or the shares will be gone.” Bharatbhai reached the office. There it was shown that thousands of trades had taken place in the last 4 years. Some days had trades worth ₹5 crore, some days ₹10 crore. Most trades were at a loss. Bharatbhai started crying – “We never even mentioned trading. We only gave OTPs to you people!” Then he came home, opened the computer, logged into Globe Capital’s website and when he downloaded the statement, the truth came out. The reports that used to come on email were completely fake. In the real report, the account was empty. Bharatbhai called his sons and daughters. Then by selling the remaining shares, he deposited ₹35 crore rupee. Gave all the money to the company and transferred the remaining shares to another broker. FIR filed for unauthorised trading and fraud charges Shah filed a complaint about this fraud at Vanrai Police Station. The case was registered under various sections including IPC section 409 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and 420 (Cheating). Now Mumbai Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) is investigating. The firm’s employees are accused of unauthorized trading and fraud. According to police sources, senior citizens are often targeted in such frauds because they have less market knowledge. EOW is now investigating transaction details, emails and statements.