Rs 6.80 crore fake director scam sees 12th arrest, accused arranged accounts, SIMs
Rajasthan Police have arrested another accused in a Rs 6.80-crore cyber fraud case, taking the total number of arrests to 12, officials said on Saturday. Police said the man allegedly helped the gang by arranging bank accounts, documents and accommodation for its members.
The accused, identified as Laxman Singh alias Neeshu from Bikaner, is alleged to have arranged bank accounts for cyber fraudsters and helped them stay in hotels, Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime) Vijay Kumar Singh said. The case is linked to a fraud in which criminals allegedly impersonated a private company director and got the firm to transfer Rs 6.80 crore.
According to police, the gang used mule bank accounts, ATM cards, cheques, UPI, QR codes, digital wallets and cryptocurrency, including USDT, to receive, conceal and move the defrauded money through multiple layers. Fake or mule bank accounts, ATM cards, SIM cards and passbook kits were allegedly arranged through Telegram groups.
Police said money received in these accounts was withdrawn or transferred through ATMs, cheques, UPI, QR codes and cash deposit machines before being routed through multiple bank accounts and converted into cryptocurrency. The accused were allegedly connected to members of the cyber fraud gang through a Telegram group named F2F Jaipur Delhi.
Police said Laxman Singh arranged a room at a hotel in Reengus for a man identified as Sandeep Kumar on August 23. He allegedly later collected banking documents, an ATM card, a chequebook, identification papers and a SIM linked to a bank account from him. The SIM was allegedly used to activate the bank's mobile application, after which the account was used to receive and transfer the proceeds of cyber fraud, police said.
The case relates to a cyber fraud registered in Jaipur in August. Police said the cyber criminals gained access to the computer system of a private company and manipulated WhatsApp Web to impersonate one of its directors. Using the director's name and profile picture, they allegedly recreated earlier conversations to win the confidence of the company's accounts head. Posing as the director, they asked for urgent payments, after which Rs 6.80 crore was transferred to three bank accounts on August 24. The company later found that none of its directors had authorised the transactions and filed a complaint with the Central Cyber Crime Police Station on August 25.
With the arrest of Laxman Singh, the number of people held in the case has risen to 12 as police continue their investigation into the alleged network used to open accounts, move funds and support the gang's operations.- EndsWith PTI inputs
