Popular Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty has been summoned in connection with the HIBOX app scam by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell. Famous personalities including comedian Bharti Singh and YouTuber Elvish Yadav has also been summoned by the Delhi police in the case of Rs 500 crore HIBOX app scam.
The investigation was done by the Delhi police, after they received over 500 complaints from the people who said that they had invested their money on this app after watching promotional adds featuring famous media influencers or YouTubers.
According to the complainant, Rhea Chakraborty, Saurav Joshi, Abhishek Malhan, Purav Jha, Elvish Yadav, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Amit and Dilraj Singh Rawat are among the people who have promoted this app on their social media handles.
Hemant Tiwari, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) said, “Through the application, the accused promised guaranteed returns of one to five per cent daily, amounting to 30 to 90 per cent in a month. HIBOX is a mobile application that was part of a well-planned scam.”
What is HIBOX scam?
The HIBOX app was introduced in February 2024. According to the complaints, this app has tricked over 30,000 users. This app paid the investors the promised returns till June 2024, but after that it started withholding payments and withdrawals claiming that there are some technical glitches, GST issues, legal issues, etc.
Sivaram a 30-years-old man from Chennai, has been identified as the master mind behind this huge scam and has already been arrested by the police. Police has seized Rs 18 crores from four different bank accounts linked to him.
After receiving multiple complaints by the users of the app, police stated the investigation on 16th August, An FIR was registered on 20th August that cited several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Police has revealed that it is investigating two payment platforms, Easebuzz and PhonePe in the case as these apps have not followed the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The statement read, “Moreover, Easebuzz has filed the Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) under the Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU) reporting norms immediately on receipt of our internal transaction monitoring system alerts in place and has blocked the merchant from transacting as per our company compliance policies.”