Delhi: 7 arrested for involvement in cyber fraud network

The Delhi Police have arrested seven people for their alleged involvement in a cyber fraud network that siphoned around ₹4 crore from a bank account through 149 unauthorised transactions earlier this month, officials said on Tuesday

The Delhi Police have arrested seven people for their alleged involvement in a cyber fraud network that siphoned around ₹4 crore from a bank account through 149 unauthorised transactions earlier this month, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused allegedly used mule bank accounts, a foreign money-exchange application and a hawala network to convert the cheated money into USDT (Tether), a cryptocurrency.

The accused allegedly used mule bank accounts, a foreign money-exchange application and a hawala network to convert the cheated money into USDT (Tether), a cryptocurrency.

The arrests followed an investigation by the police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit into a case registered on October 5 on a complaint by Prince Bansal, 28, who deals in non-banking financial company (NBFC) and loan-related transactions, said deputy commissioner of police (IFSO) Gaurav Tyagi.

“Bansal alleged in his complaint that around 11am the same day, 149 unauthorised transactions took place in his bank account without his knowledge or consent and ₹3,93,59,000 was debited from the account,” Tyagi said.

A team under assistant commissioner of police (IFSO) Vivekanand Jha traced digital footprints to Bikaner, Jodhpur and other locations in Rajasthan.

The first breakthrough came with the arrest of Brij Lal, 29, a resident of Rajasthan’s Phalodi district, who was also wanted in another cyber fraud case registered with the IFSO this year. Lal allegedly operated mule bank accounts and received ₹9.5 lakh in cash from another accused, Piyush Talaniya, 19, who was also arrested.

“Lal’s interrogation revealed that he held a wallet ID on the ‘U Home’ money-exchange app and was connected with a foreign cyber crime network. He allegedly received suspected proceeds of crime in mule accounts, withdrew cash and used it to purchase USDT through a hawala operator,” Tyagi said.

Further investigation led to the arrest of five others: Vipin Chanwariya, 19; Sunil, 23; Vikram, 23; Rakesh Bahadu, 26; and Hemant Singh, 23. Police said the accused allegedly facilitated unauthorised account access, routed money through multiple mule accounts, withdrew cash and arranged bank accounts and money-exchange and hawala transactions.

Police recovered 45 cheque books, 25 bank passbooks, 45 ATM cards and 13 mobile phones from the accused, Tyagi said.