NAMCO Bank fraud kingpin held in UAE after 2-year hunt, extradition cleared by court

MUMBAI: Nearly two years after he allegedly slipped out of India as investigators began unravelling a ₹198

MUMBAI: Nearly two years after he allegedly slipped out of India as investigators began unravelling a ₹198.41-crore money-laundering network routed through two Malegaon-based banks, Mehmood Abdul Samad Bhagad, described by a special court as the “ultimate beneficiary” of the scam, has finally been located. Interpol informed the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) this week that Bhagad had been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, and on Wednesday a special court cleared the way for India to formally seek his extradition.

Additional sessions judge S V Sahare allowed an application moved by the ATS for an extradition proposal to be sent to the UAE government to secure Bhagad’s return to India for further investigation and trial. The court said that given the “grievous and serious offence” against him, his presence was required, and noted that the alleged scamster, absconding since the case was registered, had been the subject of an Interpol Red Corner Notice since February 2025.

Bhagad alias ‘Challenger King’ is accused of masterminding a scheme in which more than a dozen bank accounts were opened in the names of individuals who were lured with false promises of jobs at Malegaon’s Agriculture Produce Market Committee. These accounts were then used to route proceeds of illegal online betting and gaming operations into the formal banking system before the money was withdrawn, largely in cash.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opened its own probe that month, eventually tracing the network to 14 NAMCO accounts and five accounts with the Bank of Maharashtra.

The investigation was subsequently taken over by the ATS, which registered a separate offence in connection with the alleged laundering network. The prosecution told the Bombay high court last December that the money withdrawn from the shell companies’ bank accounts was “likely to be used in criminal activities against the nation”. “Therefore, the ATS has registered a separate offence,” it said.

A Bombay high court order last December, rejecting bail to co-accused Khilji Mohsinahmed Mustakali, detailed how the network functioned. According to the order, shell firms, including Hardik Enterprises and Haresh Trading Co, received crores of rupees from roughly 200 firms within months, while ₹28.22 crore was withdrawn in cash from their Axis Bank accounts alone between October and November 2024.

Justice Shyam Chandak held that the money “was accumulated through illegal business and online gambling/betting”, and found that the cheating and forgery involved in opening and operating the accounts brought the money within the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The case against Bhagad sharpened through 2025. Seeking a non-bailable warrant against him in December after he failed to respond to three ED summonses sent by post and email, the agency told the court that he had orchestrated the laundering of proceeds worth ₹198.41 crore till that point, and had separately arranged for ₹7.7 crore to be remitted abroad from shell firms against bogus software-import invoices, causing a loss of foreign exchange to the country.

While several of his alleged associates have since been arrested and the original accused, Malegaon trader Seraj Ahmed Mohammad Harun Memon, secured bail in July, Bhagad remained out of reach. His arrest in the UAE now sets the stage for investigators to bring him back to India.