MUMBAI: A 44-year-old man was arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch for allegedly defrauding several hundred persons on the pretext of high returns from share market investments, an official said on Saturday.

Ashish Shah was held from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh by the Crime Branch's property cell after a case of cheating and other offences was registered in Versova police station here, he said.

"Our probe has found he has cheated 400-500 persons with this modus operandi. The victims are from Mumbai, Mira Bhayander in Thane district as well as Tamil Nadu. The amount involved could run into crores. We recovered 1,900 grams of gold and Rs 25 lakh cash from Shah," the official said.

Further probe is underway into the extent of cheating, the official added.