Police arrest 12 members of cyber gang running racket from Cambodia

Mumbai police arrested 12 from three states in a cyber fraud gang, linked to ₹30 crore scam involving cryptocurrency transfers to Cambodia.

MUMBAI: The Gamdevi police have busted a cyber gang by arresting 12 people from three states who were part of an international racket to dupe people across the country. The police have found a total of 110 bank accounts connected to the accused, in which they received amounts to the tune of ₹30 crore.

Police arrest 12 members of cyber gang running racket from Cambodia

Three of the arrested accused were found to have visited Cambodia, from where they ran the racket with Chinese nationals based in that country. The accused converted the proceeds of the scam into crypto currency and transferred it to Cambodia.

The arrested accused are identified as Rajendra Bhagirath Singh, Pravin Dattu Londhe, Sandeep Vishnupant Kakade alias Pappu, Aditya Mahendra Kulkarni, Atul Rajendra Koli, Fazlersul Ahmed, Piyush Prakash Agarwal, Namdev Vishnu Kale alias Tatya, Shivaji Sahebrao Salunke, Guruvinder Balwinder Singh, Sagar alias Keshav Shantjay Kulkarni and Darshan Bhagwan Mhatre.

All the accused were arrested over the last one month. Darshan Mhatre, the accused who converted the Indian currency to cryptocurrency, was arrested on Saturday from Goa.

According to the police, Rajendra Singh was the mastermind of the scam. “He is a native of Rajasthan but identified himself as a Cambodian national with a fake name Kun Hash,” said a police officer. “Singh, Kulkarni and Kale had visited Cambodia earlier and worked with a firm which was involved in cyber frauds.”

The police said the complainant was a 74-year-old living in Gamdevi who was duped of ₹1 lakh two months ago. He was approached by the scamsters and persuaded to invest in the share market. After transferring ₹1 lakh, he suspected foul play and approached the police, and a case was registered in the Gamdevi police station under Section 318(4), 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with 66 (c) (d) of the IT act.

During the investigation, the police found that the amount was deposited in the bank account of Keshav Kulkarni, a resident of Mohol in Solapur. “The amount was transferred to Punjab, where cash was withdrawn and later changed into cryptocurrency and sent to Cambodia,” said Mohit Garg, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 2.

Singh, Kulkarni and Kale convinced youngsters in Solapur, Rajasthan and Punjab to open bank accounts in their name, promising them a commission of 2% to 5%. “They even provided accommodation to the account holders till the time the amount was either transferred to another account or withdrawn in cash in order to prevent the account holder from fleeing with the money,” said a police official.

Kulkarni and Singh took all the bank account details to Cambodia and gave them to the Chinese-origin people working there. The latter procured the bank account kit and got a mobile sim linked to the accounts. The accused in India shared the OTP with the foreign accused. Once the amount was deposited in the bank account of the accused, they transferred it to various bank accounts, converted the cash to cryptocurrency and sent it abroad.

Keshav Kulkarni, Rajendra Singh and Namdev Kale went to Cambodia to work with the cybercrime gang, and cheated citizens in various Indian states with the help of other associates in India. The police have found a total of 110 bank accounts linked to the arrested accused and an amount of approximately ₹30 crore received in their accounts. Cases have been filed against the accused in Delhi, Kolkata, Nashik, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Gujarat and other places in the country.