According to reports, for four years, transactions worth crores of rupees were made from his and his wife’s demat accounts without their knowledge.
A shocking case of fraud has come to light in Mumbai, where a 72-year-old businessman, Bharat Harakchand Sha,h was allegedly defrauded of approximately Rs 35 crore (approximately $350 million). According to an NDTV report, the Matunga West resident claims that employees of a Goregaon-based brokerage firm falsely promised him “safe trading” and caused him to lose crores of rupees.
According to reports, for four years, transactions worth crores of rupees were made from his and his wife’s demat accounts without their knowledge. They were unaware that company representatives had access to their OTPs, email addresses, and other information. Shah ran a guest house in Parel for nearly five decades, providing affordable housing for cancer patients and their families. After his father died in 1984, a significant number of shares were transferred to his and his wife’s names, but because they lacked an understanding of stocks, they never actively traded.
According to an NDTV report, on the advice of a friend, he opened a demat and trading account in his and his wife’s names at a Goregaon-based firm in 2020. The inherited shares were later transferred to this company. Initially, everything seemed normal, but later, company representatives began contacting Shah regularly, advising him against investing additional funds in trading. Under this pretext, two individuals appointed to “manage” Shah’s portfolio called him periodically and advised him on which orders he should place.
Later, company representatives came to his home and sent emails from their laptops. They allegedly entered OTPs, opened SMS and emails, and responded to them without Shah’s knowledge. According to an NDTV report, the company took complete control of his account.
Between March 2020 and June 2024, Shah received statements from the company that assured him everything was fine. He never suspected anything was wrong. However, in July 2024, Shah received a call from the company claiming that he and his wife had a debit balance of ₹35 crore (approximately $1.5 billion) in their accounts, which they needed to pay immediately or their shares would be sold.
Upon visiting the company, he discovered significant transactions in his accounts. Shares worth crores of rupees had been sold, and multiple circular trades had occurred between the same parties in his account. After consulting with his family, Shah sold his shares and paid Rs 35 crore (approximately $1.5 billion) while transferring the remaining shares to another company.
When he downloaded the original statement from the company’s website and compared it with the old statement, he discovered a shocking discrepancy: significant differences between the two statements. The company had received several notices from the NSE. The company responded to these notices in Shah’s name, without his knowledge.
According to NDTV report, Shah has filed an FIR, and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has started investigating the case.
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