Kochi: A day after an FIR was registered in one of Kerala's biggest cyber fraud cases, the Kochi City Police are set to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter. The SIT, which will be constituted under the direction of Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya, will investigate the fraud in which a staggering ₹24.76 crore was duped from a pharma company owner in Ernakulam. 

The SIT's first step will be to collect all details from the victim, a 49-year-old businessman from Elamkulam. The investigators will be collecting a complete record of transactions, phone calls, and chats with the scammers. 

"We will need all details of the transactions and contacts made by the complainant, right from the beginning. These include chats or records of any calls between the complainant and scammers. The money sent by the complainant so far has been deposited into an account with a private bank. We are trying to seek the bank's help to trace the money trail," said police sources. 

The fraud, which took place between March 15, 2023, and August 29, 2025, involved the businessman being lured into a fake stock trading scheme. The scammers, operating under the name 'Daniel' and using a fake website, www.capitalix.com, tricked the victim into transferring ₹24.76 crore in multiple instalments. The victim realised he had been conned when he was unable to withdraw his money. 

The Kochi Cyber Police have registered a case under sections 318 (4) (cheating) and 316 (2) (criminal breach of trust) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The police are looking into other cyber scam cases where a similar modus operandi was followed. Sources said that probing large-scale financial frauds of this nature is a complex process, as fraudsters frequently route money through a maze of accounts or even convert it into cryptocurrencies to cover their tracks.