Rhea Chakraborty, Elvish Yadav among those summoned in ₹500 crore mobile app scam

Actor Rhea Chakraborty, comedian Bharti Singh, and YouTuber Elvish Yadav are being questioned by the probed in a case linked to the HiBox mobile app, which lured thousands with a promise of high investment returns.

Several other social media influencers have also been summoned in connection with the ₹500 crore scam.

The investigation was launched after Delhi Police received over 500 complaints from people who claimed that they had invested money on the app after seeing a promotional video from their favourite social media influencer or YouTuber.

“Through the application, the accused promised guaranteed returns of one to five per cent daily, amounting to 30 to 90 per cent in a month,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari told news agency PTI.

How HiBox scam worked

The HiBox app was launched in February 2024, and it managed to trick over 30,000 people into investing money. The app paid investors the promised returns till June, but then started withholding payments and withdrawals citing account of technical glitches, GST issues, legal issues, etc.

The main accused in the scam, Sivaram (30), a Chennai resident, has already been arrested, police said.

HiBox scam: Social media influencers under the scanner

As per the complainant, actor Rhea Chakraborty, and YouTubers Saurav Joshi, Abhishek Malhan, Purav Jha, Elvish Yadav, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Amit and Dilraj Singh Rawat were among those who promoted the app on their social media handles.

“HIBOX is a mobile application that was part of a well-planned scam,” the DCP said.

Police have also said in a statement that it is investigating the role of two payment platforms — Easebuzz and PhonePe. Cops said that the apps have not adhered to the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In a statement, Easebuzz said it had proactively blocked the merchant from being probed by the police in July 2024 prior to the investigation by authorities.

“Moreover, Easebuzz has filed the Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) under the Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU) reporting norms immediately on receipt of our internal transaction monitoring system alerts in place and has blocked the merchant from transacting as per our company compliance policies,” the statement said.