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Mumbai Police have arrested a 33-year-old employee of a stock trading firm for allegedly breaking into the demat account of a 76-year-old businessman and liquidating his portfolio to purchase high-risk penny stocks. The accused, identified as Pushpa Bind, allegedly carried out unauthorised sales amounting to approximately Rs 4.58 crore. Following swift intervention after the victim reported the matter, cyber investigators managed to halt transactions and freeze shares valued at more than Rs 2.86 crore, limiting further financial damage.
The South Cyber Police station is handling the investigation into how the senior citizen’s holdings were systematically compromised. Officials stated that the complainant, a resident of the Gamdevi area in South Mumbai, was initially approached by Bind on August 10 under the pretext of investment advice. She allegedly persuaded him to consider specific shares with assurances of high financial returns. Through these initial exchanges, she secured the victim’s primary trading credentials and access passwords, setting the groundwork for the illegal transfer of his assets.
Fraud Unfolded Through Duplicate SIM and Intercepted OTPs
Executing transactions within the secure demat platform required two-factor authentication, including one-time passwords sent to the email address registered with the account. Police inquiries revealed that Bind circumvented this safeguard by procuring a SIM card linked to the phone number tied to the businessman’s registered email. This operational control enabled her to receive and verify the necessary security codes directly, bypassing the account owner completely.
Once inside the platform, the accused systematically sold blue-chip and valuable holdings from the portfolio without consent. She then redirected the generated funds toward penny stocks, which are low-value equities known for low trading liquidity and volatility. The unauthorized trades wiped out established holdings worth around Rs 4.58 crore. The victim noticed the unauthorized activity the following day, August 11, upon inspecting his investment balance, and immediately approached law enforcement to lodge a formal complaint.
Suspected Commission Scheme and Financial Network
Investigators have noted that Bind was likely not operating in isolation or solely for personal trades. Preliminary findings indicate she was promised a 30 percent commission for executing the unauthorized liquidation and steering capital into the designated penny stocks. The identities of the associates or handlers who paid this commission remain under active inquiry, with officers assessing whether an organized syndicate orchestrated the breach to manipulate equity prices.
The South Cyber Police are actively mapping out the financial trails to recover the remaining balance and determine how the unaccounted proceeds were disbursed. Cyber forensic specialists are scrutinizing call logs, system IP addresses, and bank accounts linked to Bind to locate any intermediaries who provided technical or logistical support during the breach.
Prior Offenses and Scrutiny of Market Access
A background assessment of the accused revealed a prior history of criminal complaints. Police confirmed that Bind had faced arrest earlier by the Santacruz and Azad Maidan police stations in connection with separate offenses. Her professional record includes prior tenures at several prominent investment firms across Mumbai, a factor that granted her extensive familiarity with trading systems and account security protocols.
Investigators are expanding their probe to determine whether Bind targeted other high-net-worth investors using similar access methods. The police are also examining if security lapses occurred at the intermediary level that allowed an external entity to divert SIM-linked authentication paths so rapidly. Further questioning of the accused is underway to trace everyone who benefited from the fraudulent trade volume.
