Kochi: The Kochi police here arrested three men for allegedly cheating a retired Kerala High Court judge of Rs 90 lakh through a fake share trading application.

The accused are Mohammed Sha (33) of Kannur, and Mirshad N (32) and Mohammad Sharjil T (22), both natives of Vadakara in Kozhikode district.

The trio allegedly swindled Justice Sashidharan Nambiar, who retired from the Kerala High Court in 2013 and currently resides in Kochi, by luring him into investing in a bogus share trading platform they operated.

Between December 4 and December 30, 2024, the former judge transferred around Rs 90 lakh to the accused, who had promised high returns on investment. However, neither the promised profits nor the principal amount was returned.

The case was initially registered following a complaint filed through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. During the investigation, it was found that the defrauded money was transacted through over 280 bank accounts across various Indian states, with as many as 311 financial transactions recorded, police said.

The suspects withdrew the funds via ATM and cheque transactions and later converted the amount into foreign investments using cryptocurrency and Dollar exchanges.

Investigators also found that the scam had links to a larger cybercrime network operating out of Cambodia. The money trail revealed that funds were credited to bank accounts held by Mohammed Sha and Mirshad in Thalassery. The duo reportedly withdrew the entire amount through 14 ATM transactions using debit cards, police added.

The accused were traced to the Parakkadavu area in Kozhikode based on mobile phone surveillance. Acting on this, a team from Kochi Cyber Crime Police Station arrested the suspects on Friday.

During interrogation, Sha and Mirshad disclosed that the withdrawn money had been handed over to the third accused, Mohammad Sharjil. He was subsequently taken into custody in Kozhikode.

All three were brought to the Kochi City Cyber Police Station, formally arrested, and produced before a magistrate court, which remanded them to judicial custody, they added.