Probe into Rs 25 crore trading scam revolves around Daniel

KOCHI: The investigation into a Rs 25 crore online trading scam is now focusing on a Malayali named Daniel. It was through Daniel that a pharmaceutical company owner from Kochi invested money via the trading site and app called Capitalix. The complainant only knew Daniel over the phone. He has handed over the records of phone conversations and Telegram chats to the police as evidence. Other than this, there are no details about Daniel, which makes the probe challenging.

Investigators believe "Daniel" is a fake name. The team is gathering complete records of all communications the fraudsters had with the complainant, including those through social media. The police are also looking into whether Capitalix is a genuine company, whether it actually runs online trading, and whether it is registered in India. They have started collecting details of the bank accounts where the businessman deposited money. The funds were transferred to multiple accounts under the same bank.

Cyber police have found that Capitalix is registered in California. The company has earlier been linked to international cyber fraud cases.

The pharmaceutical businessman from Elamkulam was cheated between March 2023 and 2025, during which the scam group siphoned off Rs 24.7 crore. Each time money was invested, the app showed double the amount as profit in the account. But when he tried to withdraw the funds, he realised it was a fake app.