- Friday, November 15, 2024
The accused used to provide bank accounts to cyber criminals for a fee. Cyber fraud victims were forced to deposit money in these accounts
By: Shajil Kumar
THE SURAT police have arrested four members of a gang for allegedly providing bank accounts to cybercrooks in India and abroad for transferring crime proceeds, officials said.
When the police raided an office in Surat city on Tuesday, three of the accused were caught red-handed while transferring money deposited by cyber fraud victims to another account, they said.
The bank accounts provided by the accused were used by cyber criminals based in India, Dubai and China.
They used to dupe people through digital arrests, job, task and investment frauds, police said.
The accused used to charge a specific commission for providing access to their bank accounts, it said.
A preliminary probe suggested that the four accused, arrested on Tuesday, were part of a gang which used to work with cyber fraudsters against whom the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) has so far received 866 complaints.
These criminals face 200 FIRs across the country, the police said.
In June, the Surat police arrested eight people involved in providing bank accounts (called ‘mule’ accounts) to cyber criminals to park defrauded money after charging commission.
Their interrogation brought to light that eight more people, two of them based in Dubai, were also involved in providing such accounts.
The police raided an office in Mota Varachha area of Surat city on Tuesday and arrested three people – Ajay Italia, Jalpesh Nadiadara and Vishal Thumar.
Another accused, Hiren Barvalia, was arrested from Mumbai international airport when he was trying to board a Dubai-bound flight.
Four others – Milan Vaghela, Ketan Vekaria, Dashrath Dandhalia and Jagdish Ajudia – are still at large.
Regarding their modus operandi, the police said they used to transfer money deposited by cyber fraud victims from one bank account to another.
Their accomplices would then withdraw cash in Dubai using debit cards, the police added.
During the raid at Mota Varachha office and two other locations in Surat, the police recovered 28 mobile phones, 198 bank passbooks, 100 debit cards, 35 cheque books, 258 SIM cards and three computers.
The police found the gang was operating 623 bank accounts, in which transactions of ₹1.11 billion (£9170.61) were detected.
A diary recovered from the office indicated the accused had acquired some of the bank accounts on a specific commission from 16 people and they were charging fees from cyber criminals for using them, it said. (PTI)
