Gujarat CID nabs 8 in Rs 288 cr cyber fraud case

Eight persons have been arrested from different parts of Gujarat for their alleged involvement in a cyber fraud network involving transactions worth more than Rs 288 crore, the State CID Crime said on Wednesday.

The accused were apprehended from multiple locations in different cities, including Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Unjha, over several days as part of “Operation Mule Hunt 2.0”, a special drive launched to crack down on organised cybercrime networks, the Cyber Centre of Excellence of the CID Crime said in a statement.

A mule account is a bank account used by criminals to receive, transfer, or launder illicit funds with or without the knowledge of its holder. According to the statement, the accused were involved in opening and operating mule bank accounts in the names of different individuals and firms to facilitate the transfer of funds obtained through various cyber frauds. These illicit funds were subsequently converted into cash and routed through hawala (illegal money transfer system) and ‘angadia’ (traditional courier) channels to conceal their origin, the CID Crime stated.

The Cyber Centre of Excellence said the widespread operation led to the detection of cybercrime networks handling more than Rs 288 crore. Teams carried out searches in Surat, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Unjha, leading to the arrest of the eight accused allegedly linked to multiple cyber fraud cases registered across the country.

The accused were identified by police as Mukesh Mer, Faridkhan Nasirkhan Pathan, Akshay Patel, Devendra Patel, Chetan Naranbhai Amalani, Jatin Kakkad, Kapilbhai Kotak, Mahendra Kokiya.

Investigations said the accused knowingly allowed their bank accounts to be used for illegal financial transactions in exchange for commissions. They either opened accounts in their own names or procured accounts of others, which were then used to park and transfer proceeds of cyber-crimes while masking the identity of the actual perpetrators, they alleged.

The statement said the accused played a crucial role in enabling different types of cybercrimes, including online financial scams, internet banking and UPI-related frauds, investment rackets and deposit-related frauds.

In the cases linked to Surat and Bhavnagar, the accused were found connected to 181 cyber fraud complaints registered across the country, with 81 FIRs lodged in various states.

The fraud amount in these cases alone was estimated to be over Rs 174 crore, officials said.

Police said they have seized mobile phones and a laptop from the accused, which contained details of numerous firms, identity documents of several individuals and a large number of fake invoices, indicating a well-organised crime network was duping people.

In another case from Unjha (Mahesana district), the accused were linked to 125 cyber fraud complaints involving transactions of more than `114 crore, as per data available on national cybercrime reporting platforms. Similarly, arrests made in Rajkot were connected to 26 cyber fraud complaints and an FIR involving fraud worth Rs 59.79 lakh, the statement added.

In the last one month alone, 40 people have been arrested in Gujarat in connection with 1,039 cyber fraud complaints involving a total fraud amount of Rs 622 crore under ‘Operation Mule Hunt 2.0’, it added.