Rhea Chakraborty, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiyaa, Elvish Yadav, and more summoned by Delhi Police in Rs 500 crore app fraud probe

Renowned host and comedian Bharti Singh, her husband Harsh Limbachiyaa, actress Rhea Chakraborty, and social media influencers Elvish Yadav and Abhishek Malhan among others have found themselves involved in an app-based fraud controversy. Reportedly, they have been sent notices by the Delhi Police for the promotion of a Rs 500 crore app-based scam, HIBOX, an application that lured people into investing money with the promise of high returns.

Celebs summoned by Delhi Police

Days after J Sivaram (30), director of Hibox’s parent company, Sutrulla Express Private Limited was arrested by Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO), the Delhi Police sent notices for the investigation to Bharti, Rhea, Elvish, among other celebrities.

According to PTI, the cops have revealed that ten influencers have been sent notices for allegedly promoting the app. The names include— Saurav Joshi; Abhishek Malhan, Purav Jha, Elvish Yadav, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Amit, and Dilraj Singh Rawat. The list also included Rhea's name.

Among the ten names, five influencers have been summoned by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO). On October 4, Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary, and Purav Jha were summoned by Delhi Police but none of them joined the investigations.

More details about the Hibox scam

The application was launched in February 2024 and approximately 30,000 people invested money in the app. According to police, Hibox gave returns of 1% daily and 30% monthly with a block duration of 24 hours in the first five months. The police added that the investors were also offered magic boxes, virtual boxes with gifts worth the promised return, and the investors could choose to have their investments either in the form of gifts of the same value or cash. But since July 2024, Hibox withheld amounts promised to the investors on some pretext or the other like technical glitches, legal issues, GST issues, etc, revealed the police.