Jobs bait, crypto trail, Cambodia link: Telangana cops crack Rs 547-cr cyber fraud racket; 18 mule account holders held

HYDERABAD: The Khammam police on Sunday announced the arrest of 18 mule account holders who allegedly worked with four persons accused of diverting Rs 547 crore abroad as part of an international cybercrime racket.

According to the police, the four prime accused — P Manoj Kalyan, U Vikas Chowdary, Bhanu Priya, and M Satish — are at large. On the pretext of providing jobs, they allegedly lured youngsters to open bank accounts and used their banking credentials to commit cyber fraud.


“These mule accounts were used to launder cyber fraud victims’ money. The accused also paid the mule account holders,” Khammam police commissioner Sunil Dutt said. In the past, Kalyan’s role surfaced in a job fraud case probed by Cyberabad’s cyber crime police, but he was not arrested.

“The wanted accused provided mule accounts to cyber fraudsters operating in Cambodia and other countries. Kalyan and the others transferred money from different mule accounts into their personal bank accounts. Later, using cryptocurrency, they diverted the money to their handlers abroad,” cops said.

Since 2022, Rs 114 crore got credited to Kalyan’s personal current account.

Similarly, Rs 45 crore got credited to his wife Bhanu Priya’s accounts, Rs 135 crore to his brother-in-law Satish’s account, and Rs 81 crore to one Nagalakshmi’s account before it was diverted.

The accused had been running this alleged racket since 2022.