7 held for supplying bank accounts to route ₹30cr fraud money

Seven people, including an MBA graduate, have been arrested for allegedly setting up fake firms and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters to route over ₹30 crore in proceeds of online fraud, Delhi Police said on Monday

Seven people, including an MBA graduate, have been arrested for allegedly setting up fake firms and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters to route over ₹30 crore in proceeds of online fraud, Delhi Police said on Monday.

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According to police, the accused were caught after a Delhi University student was cheated of ₹6,450 while shopping through a social media page last month.

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Pandey, 24 -- an MBA graduate, Aditya Mishra, 23, Ayush Verma, 22, Abhishek Pal, 23, Himanshu Rana, 29, Rahul Kumar, 30, and Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya, 22.

Police said Pandey allegedly coordinated the supply of bank accounts to cyber fraudsters, while the others helped establish firms, arrange account holders and transfer banking kits.

On September 4, the student filed an online cyber fraud complaint, where she stated that she was duped while trying to buy a kurti through a social media advertisement. As she clicked on the advertisement link, she was redirected to WhatsApp to place an order worth ₹799, the complaint read. Later, she was asked to make multiple payments amounting to ₹6,450 on the pretext of generating parcel code and delivery.

Explaining the modus operandi, deputy commissioner of police (north) Niharika Bhatt said, “The syndicate allegedly set up three firms -- Kizentech Solutions Pvt Ltd, Executive Edge and Nexcore -- and opened bank accounts in their names and those of individuals. Four of the accused allegedly arranged the accounts, which were handed over to other two for a monthly payment of around ₹25,000. They, in turn, supplied the account kits, along with linked SIM cards, to Pandey, who allegedly passed them on to two people in exchange for commission.”

Police said the accounts were used to receive and route money cheated from people through cyber frauds. So far, investigators have traced more than ₹30 crore in credit transactions through suspected accounts and linked 27 complaints from different states to the network.

During investigation, police analysed nearly 200 mobile numbers and IMEIs and examined banking transactions and digital records obtained from platforms including other delivery platforms.

Six of the accused were arrested during raids in Greater Noida on October 16, while Pandey was arrested in Kanpur on October 21, police said.