Industrialist Pawan Ruia arrested in multi-crore cyber fraud case

The Cyber Crime Wing of the West Bengal Police on Tuesday arrested industrialist Pawan Ruia in connection with his alleged involvement in a multi-crore fraud case involving shell companies and cryptocurrency-based money laundering, a senior officer said.

Ruia was apprehended near a hotel in New Town in the outskirts of Kolkata following a case registered at Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station, he said. The police have registered a suo motu case based on findings from their probe into cybercrime cases, with proceeds amounting to Rs 315 crore allegedly traced to bank accounts of shell companies and individuals linked to the Ruia family, sources said.

The arrest comes after the Calcutta High Court earlier in the day vacated interim protection granted to the accused and his family members in the matter, clearing the way for police action, the police said.

The Calcutta High Court in December last year granted anticipatory bail to the industrialist, his son Raghav and his daughter Pallavi in connection with the case for allegedly parking proceeds of various online scams across the country in their bank accounts.

According to investigators, the case pertains to the defrauding of a senior citizen of nearly Rs 93 lakh through a fake investment scheme operated via a mobile application.

The proceeds were allegedly routed through multiple shell company accounts.

“Investigations revealed that this is part of a large interstate cyber fraud racket with nationwide ramifications. The accused and his associates used layered banking channels and cryptocurrencies to siphon off and launder funds abroad,” a senior officer of the Cyber Crime Wing said.

Police said data from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal indicates links between the accused and at least 1,379 cyber fraud complaints across the country.

Earlier, one Rahul Verma was arrested in the case at Delhi airport in November 2025 while allegedly attempting to flee the country. He is currently in judicial custody.

A separate case was subsequently registered at Barrackpore Cyber Crime Police Station to probe the larger network involved in the fraud.

According to data from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), as many as 1,379 complaints had been registered against these shell company accounts as of October 31. Over 100 of these complaints originated from West Bengal, the police officer said.

Ruia will be produced before the Bidhannagar ACJM Court on Wednesday, he added.