The Enforcement Directorate has started investigation in a fraud in which over 5 million people across many Indian states ₹341 crore in just three months between March and May 2021.

According to the Uttarakhand Police, which registered the first case, more than 5 million people downloaded the Power Bank App from the Google Play app store, lured by the promise that their investment would double in 15 days, according to a News18 Hindi report.

Indian Power, a technology company based in Bengaluru, was listed as the owner of the Power Bank app.

The ED conducted a search operation in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Gujarat, which resulted in the seizure of electronic evidence and documents and led to other suspicious entities. NCR stands for national capital region.

The names of the major companies and their directors that came on the radar of the investigating agency are as follows –

1. M/s. Dev Enterprises (Proprietor: Vipul Joshi)
2. M/s. Divyam Infracon (Director: Chothani M. Gobarbhai)
3. M/s. Tanvi Gold Pvt. Ltd (Director: Surendra, Abhay Chaplot)
4. M/s. Capital King Management Pvt. Ltd (Director: Chirag Patel)

During the pandemic, dozens of mobile apps emerged, offering popular temptations like easy loans or quick bucks on investments.

According to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), Indians lost over ₹1,750 crore to cyber fraud between January and April 2024, 85% of which were related to financial crime.

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