Tricked by ‘Nirmala Sitharaman’ ad, Pune man loses Rs 2.3 cr to stock scam

A senior Pune citizen lost over Rs 2.3 crore due to a deceptive Facebook advertisement featuring Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, police revealed. According to the FIR, the victim, initially a pharma executive, clicked on the ad on May 25, tricked by Sitharaman’s image. Two days later, a WhatsApp call from a person claiming to be connected with a share trading platform lured him in.

The caller created an account for him, showing purported returns and accepting money as profits, which gradually increased his trust. Over 14 transactions between July 7 and July 30, totaling Rs 2.3 crore, were made to various mule accounts across different cities. Eventually, the victim was persuaded to transfer more money, only to be told that his equity had fallen and he needed to pay Rs 2.5 crore more to withdraw it, raising doubts. The cyber police have initiated an investigation into this alleged stock market scam.