Stock broking scam: How 15 men 'scammed' Zerodha of over Rs 2 crore

A significant stock broking scam has come to light in Surat, with the CID crime branch filing a case against 15 individuals. The alleged scam involved a Zerodha, Kishan Soni, who is accused of creating fake Demat and trading accounts on the brokerage platform.

Soni, a former personal client associate with Zerodha, opened a staggering 432 accounts over a period of two years. While he initially earned commissions for helping people open these accounts, the company later discovered that many were fraudulent.

The scam involved the use of forged documents to open accounts and the involvement of 14 individuals from Bihar to manage these accounts and engage in trading activities. Through a series of "iceberg trades," where small trades were spread across multiple accounts to generate high brokerage fees, Soni and his associates allegedly pocketed substantial amounts of money.

An audit revealed that the scam resulted in tax and GST evasion of Rs 2.20 crore, bringing the total fraud amount to Rs 2.75 crore. The scam was uncovered when Zerodha noticed that a large number of accounts had debit balances and account holders denied having opened them.

The accounts involved in the scam incurred losses of around Rs 70,000 to Rs 72,000 each. The CID crime branch is now investigating the matter and pursuing legal action against the accused.