Bank staff among 4 held in mule accounts racket
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Wednesday announced that they have busted a syndicate that provided cyber criminals with “mule” accounts — bank accounts opened by fraudsters to park ill-gotten wealth — and added that they have arrested four people, including an official at a private bank, in connection with the case.
The arrested were identified as Vikas Ahuja, 45, the alleged mastermind of the racket, Dilip Kumar, 32, a chartered accountant who took care of illegal financial transactions into the mule accounts, Ishu (one name), 26, and Ajay Banshkar, 40.
Officer said they seized nine cellphones, 10 bank passbooks, and four ATM cards from the accused. Police said the four operated two current bank accounts through which nearly ₹6 crore was transacted over a period of 3-4 months. Their arrest came following an investigation into a cheating case registered in January at the southwest district’s cyber police station, based on a complaint filed by a city resident, said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Rohit Meena. Manish Kumar Meena, the complainant, alleged that on January 2, some unknown people approached him on the messaging app Telegram and offered him part-time work through which he could earn ₹1,000-1,500 per day as commission by just rating various cuisines on online platforms. He was tricked into transferring money in their bank accounts in the name of creating his ID, and lost ₹5.37 lakh before he realised he had been duped. He lodged a complaint after the suspects deleted their Telegram IDs, said the DCP.
“During the investigation, a team led by cyber police station’s head, inspector Vikas Kumar Buldak, and sub-inspector Sumit (one name) found that the two bank accounts in which Manish’s money was transferred were opened in the name of two firms, both operating from separate rented shops in central Delhi’s Regarpura near Karol Bagh. An analysis of the bank accounts showed transactions of nearly ₹6 crore. Eleven more cyber complaints were found linked with the accounts,” said DCP Meena.
The team first identified and questioned the owners of the bank accounts and the two firms, who turned out to be people living in a remote village in Madhya Pradesh. The two revealed that they were brought to Delhi by Banshkar, who promised them a job, arranged food and stay for them, used their credentials for opening two separate bank accounts, and paid them ₹2,000 for each. The two were unaware that their credentials were also used to open the two fake business firms, investigators said.