Seven arrested in ₹3.9 cr cyber fraud; police uncover USDT, hawala links

Seven arrested in ₹3.9 cr cyber fraud; police uncover USDT, hawala links

New Delhi, Seven men have been arrested for allegedly facilitating a ₹3.93-crore cyber fraud involving 149 unauthorised transactions in a Delhi-based businessman's bank account, an official said on Tuesday.

Seven arrested in ₹3.9 cr cyber fraud; police uncover USDT, hawala links

With their arrest, police also uncovered a suspected network of mule accounts, cash withdrawals and links to a foreign money-exchange application and hawala channel.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell recovered 45 cheque books, 25 bank passbooks, 45 ATM cards and 13 mobile phones during the investigation, which involved seven days of fieldwork in Rajasthan, a senior police officer said.

The investigation revealed alleged links between a key accused, Brij Lal, 29, a resident of Rajasthan's Phalodi, and a money-exchange application, which was allegedly used alongside a hawala channel to convert proceeds of crime into USDT, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar, the officer said.

According to the police, the case was registered on October 5 after Prince Bansal, 28, who deals in non-banking financial company and loan-related transactions, reported unauthorised access to his bank account.

"As many as 149 transactions took place around 11 am that day without his knowledge or consent, resulting in a debit of ₹3.93 crore," the police officer said.

The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal marked a lien or hold of ₹1.78 crore. An e-FIR was registered and a team, formed to trace the money trail, identified suspected account holders and facilitators, the officer said.

The officer further said that the team travelled to Rajasthan for seven days for investigation in the case.

Lal's apprehension also helped teams pursue another cyber fraud case involving ₹95 lakh, registered through e-FIR at the IFSO police station.

During interrogation, Lal disclosed that he held a wallet in an application and was connected to a foreign cyber network through a mobile number with a foreign country code, he said.

He allegedly received money through mule accounts, withdrew cash and purchased USDT through a hawala operator. On the operator's instructions, he handed over the cash to a person in Punjab's Khanna. These claims are being investigated, the officer said.

The police have arrested Piyush Talaniya, 19, Vipin Chanwariya, 19, Sunil, 23, Vikram, 23, Rakesh Bahadu, 26, and Hemant Singh, 23, all residents of Rajasthan, they said.

Talaniya, a Bikaner resident, allegedly held a second-layer mule account from which ₹9.50 lakh was withdrawn and handed over to Lal. Chanwariya was also involved in a similar operation with Lal, police said.

Multiple suspected mule accounts in his name and transactions linked to Talaniya were identified, they said.

Sunil, a Jodhpur resident, allegedly had several mule accounts used in the suspected financial chain, they said, adding that Bahadu, a Bikaner resident, also allegedly held mule accounts linked to transactions involving Talaniya.

Vikram, from Phalodi, allegedly facilitated bank accounts for Lal, including accounts belonging to Hemant Singh.

Hemant Singh, also from Bikaner, allegedly facilitated bank accounts for Lal. Their precise roles and links with other accused are being examined, police said.

The recovered cheque books, passbooks, ATM cards and mobile phones are being analysed for evidence of account misuse, fund transfers and links to other cases. Further investigation is underway.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.