Digital loot scale: Rs 25,000,000,000

Rajkot: The mule accounts racket, busted by the Rajkot Rural police in Feb, has assumed staggering proportions, with illicit proceeds of Rs 2,500 crore laundered through 84 accounts.With the arrest of three more persons, the investigation has revealed that at least Rs 2,500 crore in digital crime money was routed through the network of 85 accounts.On Monday, the total number of arrests in the case rose to 21 with the arrest of three employees of a leading private bank. They had helped the cyberscammers open 8 to 10 mule accounts.Those arrested were Kalpesh Dangaria, a former manager of a private bank, currently serving another lender and Maulik Kamani and Anurag Bladha, both former personal bankers now working with another lender. When the crime was committed, all three were working with the same bank in different capacities. They helped open mule accounts for fake proprietorships using the names of innocent victims, entirely without their knowledge."These bankers brazenly bypassed strict Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines and internal verification protocols in exchange for hefty financial commissions. Baldha certified forged documents as genuine after a suspect signed an account opening form on another person's behalf," said Vijaysinh Gurjar, superintendent of police, Rajkot.The investigation, assisted by chartered accountants, identified 85 specific bank accounts and 35 dummy firms utilised by the network. Nationwide, 535 official complaints linked to these accounts were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), said Vijay Singh Gurjar, superintendent of police, Rajkot Rural. How the Racket Was BustedThe initial breakthrough occurred when police scrutinised suspicious banking data and flagged a bank account belonging to ‘M/s Jyot Trading Company' at the Gondal Marketing Yard, which showed unexplained transactions of approximately Rs 200 crore. This led to an FIR at the Padadhari police station.Currently, 17 of the 20 accused are in judicial custody.Police are now gathering details of all bank accounts opened during the tenure of the three accused bankers. Account holders will be summoned to verify their signatures, and documents will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for authentication.Ravi Godham, inspector, Cybercrime police station, said, "We also came to know that Maulik Kamani got a high-end phone as a gift from the perpetrators."
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