NEW DELHI; The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has cracked a major cyber fraud case involving the alleged unauthorised takeover of a bank account and fraudulent transactions amounting to approximately Rs 3.93 crore, leading to the arrest of seven accused.
The investigation revealed an alleged network that arranged mule bank accounts, withdrew cash, and transferred suspected proceeds of crime through multiple layers. Alleged links between a key accused and a foreign money-exchange application and a hawala channel used for the suspected conversion and movement of the proceeds of crime also came to light, a senior police official said.
Police registered a case on October 5 at the Special Cell police station in New Delhi, based on a complaint from a 28-year-old who deals in NBFC and loan-related transactions and maintains a bank account with a private bank. He reported that 149 unauthorised transactions occurred in his bank account without his knowledge or consent.
The account was debited approximately Rs 3,93,59,000. The NCRP portal marked a lien, or hold, on Rs 1.78 crore.
A dedicated team was constituted to investigate the case, trace the money trail and identify the persons involved. During the probe, the team conducted seven days of continuous outstation investigation, travelling to Bikaner, Jodhpur and other relevant locations in Rajasthan.
A significant breakthrough was achieved with the arrest of Brij Lal, who was also wanted in another cyber fraud case registered with IFSO. The investigation revealed that the victim’s bank account had allegedly been accessed or taken over without authorisation, resulting in 149 unauthorised transactions.
The accused allegedly transferred the suspected proceeds of crime through multiple layers of bank accounts arranged or operated by different people to complicate tracing the funds. Certain accused allegedly withdrew substantial amounts from the mule accounts and handed the cash to others in the network.
The investigation into Lal’s role revealed alleged links to a money-exchange application and a hawala channel reportedly used to move funds onward and convert them into USDT.
During the investigation, 45 cheque books, 25 bank passbooks, 45 ATM cards and 13 mobile phones were recovered.
The recovered items are relevant to the investigation into the alleged use of bank accounts, movement of funds and possible links among the people involved, while their significance in the case is being examined. - The Statesman/ANN
