Foreigner among 3 held for hacking bank accounts, transferring ₹10 crore

The Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (UP) anti-terrorism squads (ATS), in a joint operation, arrested three people, including a Nigerian national on Thursday night,

The Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (UP) anti-terrorism squads (ATS), in a joint operation, arrested three people, including a Nigerian national on Thursday night, for allegedly hacking into several bank accounts across India and transferring around ₹10 crore.

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The accused, Peter Herman Assenga and Arjun Ashok Kharade, along with Nigerian national Chinweuba Emeka Michael, would transfer the money into the accounts of depositors of a bank in Nepal, and then re-route the money to India. The accused used the modus operandi to prevent the money trail from being exposed.

UP ATS chief Dhruvakant Thakur said, “We had recently arrested some people from Lakhimpur Kheri district in UP, which shares its border with Nepal. We discovered that they were part of a syndicate which had expertise in hacking into bank accounts of Indian nationals. We believe that the transactions are being made to fund terrorism and are probing further.”

The police have recovered three laptops, four mobile phones, 13 SIM cards, and an international SIM card as well as some electronic gadgets from the accused. “The accused transferred money into some international accounts as well. We are probing those accounts also,” Thakur said. The case came to light when the police in Nepal discovered that some of the accounts in the country were being hacked and the money was being transferred to India. They informed the intelligence agencies in India, following which the UP ATS started investigations in India.