The investigation has uncovered an alleged network of mule bank accounts, cash withdrawals and suspected links to a foreign money-exchange application and a hawala channel used to convert and transfer the proceeds into USDT, a cryptocurrency. New Delhi: The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested seven people in connection with an alleged cyber fraud involving unauthorised transactions worth Rs 3.93 crore from a bank account.
The case was registered on October 5, following a complaint by a 28-year-old man, Prince Bansal, who is involved in NBFC and loan-related transactions and holds an account with ICICI Bank.
The investigation also revealed alleged links between Brij Lal, a foreign money-exchange application called U Home and a hawala channel. Investigators probed the transactions and traced the alleged movement of funds across multiple bank accounts. The police team conducted a seven-day operation in Bikaner, Jodhpur and other locations in Rajasthan to identify the account holders and alleged facilitators involved in the network. Some of the accused allegedly withdrew cash from these accounts and handed it over to other members of the network. The alleged transaction is being investigated further.
The case was registered on October 5, following a complaint by a 28-year-old man, Prince Bansal, who is involved in NBFC and loan-related transactions and holds an account with ICICI Bank. 149 unauthorised transactions took place in his account on October 5 at around 11 am, resulting in the debit of Rs 3,93,59,000, according to the police. The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) marked a lien or hold on Rs 1.78 crore. During interrogation, he allegedly disclosed that he held a wallet ID on the application and was connected to a foreign cyber network through a mobile number with the +852 country code. Rs 9.50 lakh was allegedly withdrawn from a mule bank account held by Piyush Talaniya and handed over to Brij Lal, according to the police. Vipin Chanwariya allegedly withdrew Rs 7 lakh on October 12 on Brij Lal’s instructions and handed the cash to him.
The accused allegedly routed the proceeds of the fraud through multiple mule bank accounts to complicate the money trail, according to the police. The police said Brij Lal also allegedly disclosed that cash was handed over to a person in Khanna, Punjab, on the instructions of a hawala operator.
