
The Delhi Police announced on Wednesday that they have successfully dismantled a syndicate that facilitated cyber criminals by providing them with mule accounts. Mule accounts are bank accounts that are opened by fraudsters to store their illicitly obtained funds. In connection with this case, the police have arrested four individuals, including an official from a private bank.
The individuals who have been arrested are Vikas Ahuja, alleged to be the mastermind behind the racket, Dilip Kumar, a chartered accountant responsible for managing illegal financial transactions into the mule accounts, Ishu (who goes by a single name), and Ajay Banshkar. During the arrests, the police seized nine cellphones, ten bank passbooks, and four ATM cards from the accused.
It was discovered that the four suspects operated two current bank accounts, through which they conducted transactions amounting to approximately ₹6 crore over a period of 3-4 months.
The investigation into this case began following a complaint filed by a resident of Delhi in January at the southwest district’s cyber police station. The complainant, Manish Kumar Meena, alleged that on January 2, he was approached by unknown individuals on the messaging app Telegram. They offered him part-time work, claiming that he could earn ₹1,000-1,500 as commission by simply rating various cuisines on online platforms. He was deceived into transferring money to their bank accounts under the pretense of creating his own ID. It was only after losing ₹5.37 lakh that he realized he had been scammed and subsequently filed a complaint. Unfortunately, the suspects had already deleted their Telegram IDs.
During the investigation, a team led by Inspector Vikas Kumar Buldak and Sub-Inspector Sumit discovered that the bank accounts used for transferring Manish’s money were opened in the names of two separate firms. Both of these firms operated from rented shops in Regarpura, near Karol Bagh in central Delhi. Analysis of the bank accounts revealed transactions amounting to nearly ₹6 crore. Furthermore, it was found that there were eleven additional cyber complaints linked to these accounts.
The police identified and questioned the owners of the bank accounts and the two firms, who were discovered to be individuals residing in a remote village in Madhya Pradesh. These individuals revealed that they had been brought to Delhi by Ajay Banshkar, who promised them employment, arranged food and accommodation for them, used their credentials to open two separate bank accounts, and paid them ₹2,000 each. The owners of the bank accounts were unaware that their credentials had also been used to create the two fake business firms.
Further questioning led the investigators to the owners of the rented shops, who disclosed that they had rented out their premises to Ishu. Banshkar was arrested in the last week of February, and his interrogation subsequently led to the arrests of Dilip Kumar and Ishu over the following 20 days.
“The interrogation of these three individuals led to the arrest of Vikas Ahuja from Laxmi Nagar last week,” stated DCP Meena. It was revealed that Ahuja was receiving ₹1.5 lakh as commission for each mule account, as well as 1% commission on each transaction.