The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have arrested four men for helping move fraudulent money through bank accounts opened in the names of other people. Police have traced mule accounts linked to 54 cybercrime cases across India. They are also investigating the role of a Chinese national, who is suspected of running the racket.
The arrests followed a complaint from a woman who lost ₹37.40 lakh to fraudulent online trading platforms. According to police, she was approached on WhatsApp and promised high returns on her investments. Believing the offers to be genuine, she transferred money to accounts provided by the fraudsters. She later realised she had been cheated and lodged a complaint on April 4, after which a case was registered.
Investigators traced the financial transactions and identified 20 mule bank accounts allegedly used to receive and pass on proceeds of cyber fraud. The Chinese national is suspected of operating a network of such accounts to launder money from online investment scams. Transactions worth nearly ₹10 crore are linked to this network.
The accused are Panduraju Abhishek (26), an interior designer from Pocharam in Hyderabad; Maroju Subrahmanya Chari alias Bannu (25), a driver; Gedela Nani (28), also a driver; and Alamanda Manikanta (20), a helper. The report states that all four are from Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.
Police said Abhishek, who was facing financial difficulties, came into contact with the Chinese national through WhatsApp. The foreign national allegedly offered him commissions for arranging mule bank accounts and SIM cards to transfer cybercrime proceeds. Abhishek then approached the other three accused and offered ₹10,000 for each bank account they arranged. After getting the account details and SIM cards, he allegedly inserted the SIMs into his mobile phones. He then moved the money received in those accounts to other mule accounts controlled by the Chinese national.
Police seized nine mobile phones, 10 debit and credit cards, six bank passbooks and eight cheque books from Abhishek. An examination of the transactions revealed links to about 54 cybercrime cases registered across the country, involving suspected fraudulent transactions of nearly ₹10 crore. Police are now investigating the wider network of mule accounts.
