Surat City Police's Cyber Crime Branch has arrested five key accused allegedly behind a pan-India fraud that targeted women with fake weight-loss and skin treatment medicines, with bank accounts linked to the companies at the centre of the investigation recording transactions worth several crores of rupees. The arrests, made on 29 October 2026, follow a complaint filed in Surat and a subsequent raid on a call centre in Gurugram, Haryana.

How the Fraud Operated

The accused allegedly ran the scheme through four entities — Curest Science & Wellness, Vedic World, Divya Antra Wellness LLP, and Glozenic Skin Care — advertising their products on social media using attractive packaging, product photographs, and claims of effective weight loss and skin treatment.

Customers were contacted via WhatsApp by individuals posing as doctors. In the complaint that triggered the present investigation, a woman from Surat was approached by someone identifying himself as Dr Akash Malhotra, who asked her to transfer ₹8,000 online via a QR code linked to Curest Science & Wellness for skin medicines. She instead received weight-loss medicines. The accused subsequently extracted another ₹9,000 from her in the name of skin medicines while refusing to refund the initial payment, according to police.

Rather than shipping products through standard courier companies as promised, employees were reportedly flown or sent by train from Delhi to various cities across India, posing as courier delivery workers, to hand over parcels and collect cash directly from customers.

The Arrests and Key Accused

The breakthrough came after investigators laid a trap in Surat and apprehended a delivery worker operating under the name Rahul Raj. Information from him led police to the company's call centre in Gurugram, where a raid found approximately 160 people — including tele-callers, advisers, and delivery staff — working at the facility. Four accused had been arrested in an earlier linked case, but the alleged masterminds had remained at large.

The five now arrested have been identified as Amit Gaurav, 31, director of Curest Science & Wellness and Glozenic Skin Care; Pankaj, 30, director of Curest Science & Wellness and Divya Antra Wellness LLP; Rupesh Kumar, 43, and Puneet Kumar, 43, both partners in Curest Science & Wellness; and Deepak Kumar, 24, a manager at the company. The accused hail from Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.

Crores Traced in Bank Accounts

The financial trail uncovered by investigators is substantial. Curest Science & Wellness's IDFC First Bank account received ₹6.99 crore between 1 January and 29 June 2026, while its Kotak Mahindra Bank account received ₹6.58 crore between 7 April 2025 and 29 June 2026. Transactions worth ₹8.30 crore were additionally recorded through the company's Razorpay merchant account, according to police.

In a separate earlier case, the same company allegedly cheated another Surat woman of ₹1.77 crore. A case has also been registered by the Cyber West Gurugram Police Station in Haryana under relevant provisions of law.

Legal Charges and Public Advisory

A case has been registered at the Surat Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 316(5), 318(4), 319(2), 61(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2008.

Police have urged the public to verify the authenticity of any medicine or health product before purchasing through online advertisements. Victims of financial cyber fraud have been advised to immediately call the national cybercrime helpline — 1930 — to improve the chances of funds being frozen in relevant accounts.

With investigations still ongoing and financial trails spanning multiple states, authorities are expected to examine whether further arrests or asset seizures are imminent.