4 arrested in Delhi for providing mule accounts to facilitate cyber frauds

Four persons allegedly involved in arranging mule bank accounts for funnelling and laundering proceeds of various cyber frauds across the country have been arrested from central Delhi, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the accused acted as intermediaries for larger cybercrime modules and were responsible for procuring mule bank accounts, into which cheated funds were deposited in installments.

The money was withdrawn and delivered to the main fraudster, while the mule account holders retained small portions as commission.

A fraudulent credit of Rs 50,000, dated May 1, was detected in a bank account belonging to one Sameer, a resident of Delhi's Kishan Ganj area, a senior officer said.

Subsequently, he was apprehended, and during questioning, he allegedly disclosed that he had received Rs 1,60,760 in fraudulent deposits on the directions of an associate Shivam Rathore, the police said.

A raid was conducted in Shastri Nagar area, leading to the arrest of Shivam (20). He revealed the involvement of another associate, Sandeep (22), also from Shastri Nagar.

The officer said, in a third raid, Sandeep was apprehended, who disclosed that he had arranged multiple mule accounts for another associate Sumit, who is currently absconding.

Sandeep also admitted convincing Ajay (31) -- resident of Malkaganj area -- to provide access to his bank account in exchange for a commission, he added.

Police said Ajay was traced and arrested in a fourth raid. He allegedly confessed that he allowed the use of his bank account for fraudulent transactions and withdrew Rs 92,000, handing it over to Sandeep in exchange for a 10 per cent commission.

According to the police, the arrests have helped solve two interstate cybercrime cases registered in Faridabad and Telangana's Warangal.

Efforts are on to trace the prime accused, Sumit, and identify additional mule accounts linked to the network, the officer said.