20 arrested for laundering Rs 398cr using mule accounts in Patan

Palanpur: Patan Cybercrime police exposed a major cyberfraud racket involving illegal mule bank accounts and suspicious financial transactions worth Rs 398.43 crore and arrested 20 people on Monday.

Acting on intelligence and data analysis from the Centre’s Samanvaya and NCCRP portals, the police identified multiple suspicious current accounts opened in Harij Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd in Harij town of Patan. These accounts were linked to 228 cyberfraud complaints registered in various states across India, along with large-scale suspicious financial transactions.

The 20 arrested people include 13 account holders and seven middlemen.

Investigations revealed that the accused individuals lured citizens by offering cash rewards and monthly commissions for opening bank accounts in their names. Once the accounts were opened, fraudsters collected banking kits, including ATM cards, chequebooks, blank signed cheques, mobile numbers and internet banking credentials.

“These accounts were then used for laundering proceeds of cybercrimes such as OTP frauds, APK/link-based scams, digital arrest frauds, sextortion, social media-based financial cheating and illegal online betting transactions,” said Patan Superintendent of Police (SP) VK Nayee.

Police found that 13 mule bank accounts were actively used, and transactions worth Rs 398.43 crore were routed through them.

Police are also investigating if any bank employee helped them open these accounts.