Five held in Delhi for facilitating cyber fraud withdrawals; Rs 9 lakh frozen

Delhi Police has busted a cybercrime syndicate allegedly involved in facilitating the siphoning of fraud proceeds through bank accounts and arrested five persons, while preventing the withdrawal of nearly Rs 9 lakh suspected to be linked to cyber fraud, officials said on Wednesday.

The police arrested Vikash (22), Vansh (21), Faiyaz Alam (22), Amit (28) and Balvir Kumar (23), all residents of Delhi, on Tuesday from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly.

The operation was launched after a a private bank’s branch manager in Jasola alerted police about suspicious transactions, police said.

During the investigation, officers of Sarita Vihar police station uncovered a commission-based network that allegedly arranged and operated bank accounts that were used for routing and withdrawing money obtained through cyber frauds.

An FIR has been registered at the Sarita Vihar police station under relevant provisions of the BNS, police said, adding that the probe has revealed a direct link to a major CEO/social media impersonation fraud reported in Mumbai, which allegedly duped a private company of around Rs 10.40 crore.

In that case, registered by the South Cyber Police Station of Mumbai Crime Branch, fraudsters allegedly siphoned off money through 63 transactions carried out between June 3-15, officials said.

The financial trail being examined in the Delhi case may exceed Rs 10 crore, police said, adding that investigators are working to identify the entire network and trace the flow of funds.

The accused allegedly received commissions for facilitating the movement and withdrawal of funds through bank accounts under their control or arranged by the accused, the police said.

Further investigation is underway to identify other beneficiaries, account holders and handlers associated with the racket, the officials added.