Court rejects man's bail plea in cyber fraud case; cites criminal liability for bank a/c use

Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) A special court here has refused bail to a 41-year-man held in a Rs 7.31 crore cyber fraud case, saying one cannot escape criminal liability after permitting the use of his or her account for criminal activities.

The court underscored that such offences "are rising day by day and innocent people are losing their hard earned money due to cyber frauds".

"Everybody must be aware that he or she should not permit the other person to misuse his or her bank account for criminal activities," special CBI judge A V Gujarathi said while denying bail to Rahul Gawli on Thursday.

The court stressed that after "permitting use of his or her account for criminal activities, he or she cannot escape from the criminal liability".

If granted bail, there will be a feeling among people that one can commit the most outrageous acts and yet would be dealt with softly by courts, which indeed would be distressing, the special judge said.

Gawli is accused of allowing the co-accused to use his company's bank account to commit the fraud.

The complainant has claimed he was allegedly cheated after being added to a WhatsApp group called 'A5 Capital Market Observation' on February 18, 2025.

Individuals, including an administrator and an unknown person pretending to be members of 'HSBC Security,' gained the informant's trust by showing stock trading profits. They insisted on investment, assuring a 10 per cent monthly profit on the invested amount, the police said.

As per the prosecution, the informant then transferred Rs 7,31,66,008 from his daughter's bank account to various accounts between March 7, 2025, and May 6, 2025. The fraud came to light when the amount was not returned despite repeated demands.

A probe revealed Rs 5,00,000 of the defrauded amount was transferred to an account in the name of Rahsa Beez Solution Pvt Ltd, of which Gawli is one of the directors.

The defence of the accused was that he himself is a victim of the fraud and had been falsely implicated in the case.

He submitted that the co-accused in the case forced him to open the bank account on the pretext of financial service.

However the court noted that Gawli didn't file any criminal complaint against the co-accused, which meant he was aware of the malafide intentions of the co-accused and had facilitated commission of the crime.

The court stressed there is strong prima facie case against the accused, adding that all the accused persons in the crime are not yet arrested and thorough further investigation of the crime is necessary.

Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to be released on bail, the special judge said. PTI AVI BNM