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Three Bank Officials Arrested for Assisting Cyber Criminals in Opening Mule Accounts


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In a major cyber fraud crackdown, the Hyderabad Police have arrested three bank officials for allegedly helping cyber criminals open mule accounts in exchange for large commissions. The accused include Shubham Kumar Jha, a deputy manager at RBL Bank in Bangalore; Harun Rashid, an assistant vice president at Axis Bank, also in Bangalore; and Kata Srinivas, a sales manager at Kotak Mahindra Bank in Hyderabad.

These three bank employees are among the 52 individuals arrested in connection with cyber fraud over the past week. The arrests follow a series of raids carried out by the Hyderabad Police across eight states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Bihar.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner, CV Anand, shared details of the operation, stating, “DCP Cybercrime Kavitha has led an extensive operation covering eight states. In the past month, 52 cyber criminals have been apprehended, including three masterminds. We have uncovered 33 cases in Hyderabad city, 74 cases across Telangana, and 576 cases nationwide.”

The crimes primarily involved digital frauds, investment scams, and other online criminal activities. The total financial loss linked to these crimes is approximately Rs 88.32 crores. However, police managed to freeze only about Rs 3 crores through banking processes. During the raids, authorities seized numerous items, including mobile phones, chequebooks, PAN cards, and other documents.

The investigation revealed that some of the frauds were facilitated by bank officials who assisted in opening mule accounts. These are bank accounts opened in someone else’s name but controlled by cyber criminals. The criminals used these accounts for illegal transactions, hiding their identities and facilitating the movement of illicit funds.

The Hyderabad Police’s investigation into 39 mule accounts, prompted by customer complaints, uncovered violations linked to senior bank officials. These officials allegedly created these accounts for the criminals, earning commissions ranging from Rs 50,000 for savings accounts to Rs 80,000 for current accounts, according to reports from the Times of India.

The arrests of the bank officials highlight the growing concern of internal collusion in cyber crimes and the ongoing efforts by authorities to tackle online fraud.

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