Five Assam villagers arrested for defrauding HSBC Bank of ₹1.27 crore

According to investigators, the accused – all in their 20s and 30s – exploited digital loopholes and identity fraud to procure 55 HSBC credit cards using forged documents. The cards were used for lavish shopping sprees and discreet fund transfers into a web of fake bank accounts

MUMBAI: In a meticulously planned operation, the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested five men from a remote village in Assam’s Morigaon district for allegedly orchestrating a high-stakes credit card scam that defrauded global banking giant HSBC to the tune of ₹1.27 crore.

Five Assam villagers arrested for defrauding HSBC Bank of ₹1.27 crore

According to investigators, the accused – all in their 20s and 30s – exploited digital loopholes and identity fraud to procure 55 HSBC credit cards using forged documents. The cards were used for lavish shopping sprees and discreet fund transfers into a web of fake bank accounts.

The accused have been identified as Mohebur Abdul Rahman, 28, Sadiqul Islam, 27, Ilyas Rafiqul Islam, 25, Abu Bakr Siddique Ramzan Ali, 37, and Mohimuddin Ahmed Abdul Malik, 26, all residents of Morigaon. They were produced before a local court in Assam on Thursday and granted a week’s transit remand. The crime branch will bring them to Mumbai on Saturday for further investigation.

The modus operandi

The gang’s playbook, say police, was deceptively simple yet chillingly effective. They allegedly began by identifying individuals with high CIBIL scores. Using their details, they fabricated PAN cards and supporting documents. These were then used to obtain Aadhaar cards from a now-busted fake Aadhaar centre in Morigaon district — a centre believed to be part of a wider racket.

Armed with these forged identities, the group applied for credit cards from HSBC and other financial institutions. They rented temporary accommodations in Mumbai to receive the cards, only to vanish soon after the deliveries were made. All 55 cards in this case were issued between February and June 2024. “Once the cards were in hand, the accused went on a calculated spree — shopping, transferring funds, and draining credit limits before cutting all ties with the city,” said police inspector Sadanand Yerekar of Crime Branch Unit 3.

A deeper nexus?

The FIR in the case was initially registered at Azad Maidan police station in 2023, based on a complaint from an HSBC employee. A parallel probe by Unit 3 of the Crime Branch eventually led the trail to Assam. Through a mix of forensic banking analysis and mobile tracking, the investigators uncovered a pattern — the same digital footprints had surfaced in earlier cases involving Aditya Birla Finance and Axis Bank.

Deputy commissioner of police Datta Nalawade, who led the probe, said the team worked closely with the Laharighat police in Morigaon to lay a trap. “We had solid evidence — bank statements, mobile usage data, CCTV footage and fake documents. Once the case was watertight, our team moved in and arrested the accused,” he said.

Police believe this group may be just one node in a larger syndicate operating across 15–20 villages in Morigaon district. In the last four months alone, over 200 people have been arrested by the Assam police for similar banking frauds, pointing to an emerging hub of cybercrime activity.

The arrested men have been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using a forged document), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 66(c) and 66(d) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.