72-Year-Old Mumbai Man Loses Rs 35 Crore in Elaborate Trading Fraud Spanning Four Years

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Mumbai:

A 72-year-old Mumbai resident has suffered a devastating financial loss of Rs 35 crore through a sophisticated trading scam that continued undetected for four years. Bharat Harakchand Shah, who lives in Matunga West, has claimed that Globe Capital Market Limited, a brokerage firm, conducted unauthorized trading using his wife's account over this extended period.

Mr. Shah and his wife operate a low-cost guest house in Parel for cancer patients. They had inherited a share portfolio after the death of his father in 1984. However, lacking knowledge about stock market operations, the couple had never engaged in active trading.

The alleged fraudulent activity began in 2020 when, following a friend's recommendation, Shah established Demat and trading accounts for himself and his wife with Globe Capital Markets Limited. He subsequently transferred their inherited shares to the company.

In the beginning, communications seemed legitimate. Company representatives maintained regular contact with Shah, offering attractive assurances. They promised that no additional investments would be required for trading activities and that shares could be utilized as collateral for safe trading.

The company assigned "personal guides" to Shah - two employees named Akshay Baria and Karan Siroya who were tasked with "managing" his portfolio. This arrangement effectively gave them complete control over the accounts belonging to Shah and his wife.

According to the filed FIR, the situation rapidly progressed. Initially, the representatives called daily with instructions on placing orders. Eventually, they began making personal visits to Shah's home and sending emails from their own laptops.

Shah claims he was manipulated into providing all necessary information. He entered every OTP, opened and responded to all SMS messages and emails as instructed. He was only given selective information while the company maintained complete control over his account.

Shah remained unaware of the extensive trading activities being conducted through his accounts. Between March 2020 and June 2024, the annual statements he received consistently showed "profits." With clean statements arriving yearly, he had no reason to suspect any misconduct.

The deception was finally exposed in July 2024 when Shah received an unexpected call from Globe Capital's Risk Management Department stating: "You and your wife have a debit balance of Rs 35 crore in your accounts. You must pay it immediately, or your shares will be sold."

Upon visiting the company, he discovered that massive unauthorized trading had occurred. Shares worth crores had been sold, and numerous 'circular trades' (transactions conducted with the same party) had driven the account deep into debt.

Facing the immediate threat of losing his remaining assets, Shah reluctantly sold his remaining shares and paid the entire Rs 35 crore debt. He then transferred the leftover shares to a different company.

The full extent of the fraud became clear only when he downloaded the original, comprehensive trading statement from Globe's website and compared it with the "profit" statements he had received via email. He discovered significant discrepancies between the two records.

Additionally, he learned that the company had received multiple notices from the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The company had responded to these notices using Shah's name, though he maintains he was never informed about any of them. The actual trading history differed vastly from what had been presented to him.

"For four years, the company presented us with a false picture, while the actual losses continued to mount," Shah stated.

Shah has described this as an "organised financial fraud" and has filed an FIR with the Vanrai police station. The case, registered under IPC sections including 409 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and 420 (Cheating), has now been transferred to the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for thorough investigation.