Hyderabad man booked for 2.8 cr fraud using Chris Gayle’s identity

Hyderabad: A man in Hyderabad was on Friday, March 14, booked for investment fraud of Rs 2.8 crore on the pretext of large returns misusing Chris Gayle’s identity.

The accused asked his sister to invest Rs 5.7 crore in a fake coffee powder manufacturing company. The victim was approached by the accused and his wife in 2019 who promised her a 4 percent monthly return on investment. They claimed the money would be used to fund a coffee powder manufacturing company based in Kenya, which was expanding with a new unit in the US.

According to reports, the cybercrime police said that the accused convinced his sister that the owner of the company is known to them and one of the accused is going to be a partner in the company.

To gain her trust, the accused allegedly showed pictures and videos of popular West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle, claiming he was the business promoter. The victim invested Rs 2.8 crore. She then encouraged family members and friends to invest another 2.2 crore.

Others invested 70 lakh, totalling 5.7 crore. Initially, the accused paid returns, convincing investors that the business was legit.

Gradually, the payments stopped and the accused kept evading the queries of the investors. The victim who invested Rs 5.7 crore, received only Rs 90 lakh in returns.