Mumbai News: FIR Registered After Fraudsters Use Fake SEBI Logo, Signature In PAN Unfreezing Scam

The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police have registered an FIR against an unidentified individual for allegedly creating a fake Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) logo and sending fraudulent PAN unfreezing orders to individuals, thereby defrauding them. The case was registered on May 23 following a complaint filed by SEBI.

According to the FIR, on May 2, 2025, one Anand Daga received an email claiming that a PAN unfreezing order had been issued in the name of a sub-broker of Angel One Limited, along with the corresponding PAN number. The email featured SEBI’s logo, name and the signature of Amarjit Singh, SEBI’s whole-time member (WTM).

On May 6, 2025, Daga sent an email to Singh, inquiring whether SEBI had indeed issued the PAN unfreezing order and why the information was not available on SEBI’s website or in the public domain. Daga further mentioned that if SEBI had not issued the order, then someone had misused SEBI’s name and logo for illegal purposes. He also provided the email he had received from the scammers.

Upon examining the email, Singh realised that his name, signature and SEBI’s logo had been forged to create a fake PAN unfreezing order. He checked SEBI’s records and found no such order had been issued. Singh then alerted SEBI’s department concerned about the scam.

On May 15, Vaibhav Modi, assistant manager at SEBI, filed a complaint at the BKC police station. The police registered a case under Sections 336(2), 336(3) (Forgery), 338 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc) and 340(2) (Using forged documents or electronic records as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.