From mason to Rs 670-crore scam: How Hyderabad man duped 7,400 investors | Hyderabad News
HYDERABAD: A man who struggled to clear his Intermediate exams and once worked as a mason is the alleged mastermind behind a Rs 670-crore investment scam involving 7,400 investors across the country.The fraud is currently under investigation by the Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW).EOW is probing three cases registered against Nanavath Bhupal Naik, a native of Vikarabad district.“He claimed to have completed his Intermediate and obtained a degree through open schooling and correspondence,” an EOW official said.According to police, before setting up two companies currently under legal scrutiny, Shares Bazaar Pvt Ltd (SBPL) and Kisaan Parivar Ltd (KPL), Bhupal had worked as a mason and a petrol pump attendant. In 2013-14, he joined a stock brokerage firm as an agent , where he developed relationships with several clients.In 2016, he set up a franchise of the same brokerage firm in Kukatpally. That year, he also registered KPL, ostensibly to promote organic farming by pooling land from marginal farmers. The company, however, remained inactive for several years.In 2020, Naik started SBPL as stock trading firm. “Leveraging his existing client network and online promotions promising returns of around 4% a month, he attracted investors to the two companies, particularly from 2022-23 onwards.Though SBPL did not have the requisite permission to collect deposits, Bhupal illegally mobilised money from investors.
Kingpin wanted to contest 2023 T assembly poll: EOW
The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) investigation has laid bare the journey of Nanavath Bhupal Naik, the alleged mastermind of a 670-crore scam who first struggled to clear his Intermediate examinations and later worked as a mason and petrol pump employee.
From odd jobs to multi-crore fraud
Bhupal Naik rotated funds collected from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors until the arrangement became unsustainable in 2025,” said an EOW official.EOW has so far received more than 500 complaints against the accused. Police have identified 70 bank accounts linked to the two companies and their directors, with around Rs 35 lakh currently available in them.Cyberabad police have also identified 45 properties for attachment, including 140-acre agricultural lands purchased by the accused in Mahbubabad, Wanaparthy and Sangareddy.Of this, 70 acres are registered in the names of investors of KPL as part of the investment scheme, which offered registration of five guntas of land for an investment of 12.5 lakh with a 24% tax-free return with a 12-month lock-in.Police also identified two commercial properties of about 10,000 square feet and a villa in Kondapur. In the bail application filed before a local court in LB Nagar in Aug, Bhupal described himself as “a permanent resident of villa number 5 of a gated society in Kondapur, who hails from a respectable poor family without any criminal antecedents.”Online property listings indicate that villas in the same community are currently priced between 6.8 crore and 10 crore.Apart from the three cases being investigated by Cyberabad EOW, five cases have been registered against SBPL, KPL and their directors in Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. Bhupal has already been arrested in the cases in Punjab and Gujarat and remains in jail, police said.“He wanted to contest the Telangana assembly elections in 2023 and spent money towards that, but could not secure a ticket,” said an official.EOW has ordered a forensic audit of the two companies, which is expected to be completed this month.
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