India’s financial capital, Mumbai, recorded an average of one case of complicated financial fraud every third day during the first half of 2025. In total, the number of financial crimes registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police almost doubled to 65 in the first six months of 2025 compared to 38 cases recorded in the same period last year.
The EOW investigates complicated white collar crimes, namely general cheating, fraud in banking and medical fields, job racketeering, shares, and bogus stamp cases. The Mumbai Police jurisdiction is spread across 12 zones in Mumbai city and the Mumbai suburban district areas.
One of the infamous cases this year pertained to the embezzlement of ₹122 crore at the New India Cooperative Bank. A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) team found ₹122-crore cash missing from the safe following an inspection at one of the branches of the bank.
Subsequently, Hitesh Mehta, General Manager and Head of Accounts at New India Cooperative Bank, was arrested by the EOW. The branch attached 21 properties believed to be linked to the proceeds of crime. The properties associated with the five accused individuals in the case are collectively valued at ₹167.5 crore.
The total value of properties attached in connection with the 65 financial crimes recorded till the end of June stood at massive ₹14,814 crore.
Cybercrimes on the rise
As technology continues to evolve at a breakneck speed and its presence grows in the everyday lives of people, cybercrime cases have risen as well. During the year, till end of June, Mumbai reported 2,188 cases of cybercrimes involving phishing attacks, credit card or online fraud, job fraud, digital arrest and many more.
The majority of cybercrimes are centred around various forms of cheating. Among these, the highest number of cases are related to share market investment scams, which accounted for one-fifth (21%) of total cybercrime cases in the first half of the year.
In July, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Legislative Council had said that in Mumbai, 2.71 lakh investors were duped of ₹2,95,451 crore in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, Mumbai also topped the list of financial frauds reported in 2024.
According to the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal, there were 58,157 cases from Maharashtra in 2024 involving financial fraud of ₹1,186.46 crore, which included 31,583 cases from Mumbai, 13,971 from Pune and 12,582 from Thane.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has already intensified its fight against fraudulent financial activities this year. In March, SEBI had announced that it took down over 70,000 misleading investment handles and social media posts since October 2024.
Moreover, SEBI announced the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) verification mechanism in June. The system will be effective from October 1, 2025. The regulator is also working with Apple App Store and Android Play Store to ensure that only valid applications of intermediaries are available on smartphone application stores, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.
