Gurugram: Police have arrested five men for allegedly providing bank accounts to a Chinese cyber-fraud syndicate that cheated a victim of around Rs 13.80 crore in Gurugram on the pretext of an investment, officials said here on Tuesday.
With these arrests, the total number of people arrested in the case has reached 40. Police also recovered six mobile phones from the accused.
Fraud network through Telegram
According to police, the accused came in contact with the cyber-fraud syndicate through Telegram. They allegedly provided bank accounts that were used to receive and transfer money obtained through cyber fraud.
The case was registered on November 4, 2024, after the victim approached the Cyber Crime East police station and complained of losing around Rs 13.80 crore in an alleged investment scam.
The investigation was later handed over to the Special Cyber Crime Unit in Sector 56.
Five accused arrested from different cities
Police said the arrests were made based on technical evidence and analysis of the banking trail.
The five accused have been identified as Neeraj, Suraj Saroj, Surjeet Kumar alias Manas, Prashant Sharma and Tej Pratap Singh Shekhawat.
Neeraj was arrested in Delhi on August 21. Suraj Saroj was arrested in Dehradun, while Surjeet Kumar alias Manas was arrested in Shimla. Prashant Sharma and Tej Pratap Singh Shekhawat were arrested from the Dehradun-Shimla area on August 22.
Bank account allegedly sold several times
During the investigation, police found that around Rs 5 lakh of the defrauded money had been transferred to the current bank account of Gupta Industries.
Police said accused Nikhil Gupta revealed that he had sold the bank account to Manjeet Dadyan for Rs 50,000. Dadyan allegedly sold it to Neeraj for Rs 60,000.
Neeraj then allegedly sold the account to Surjeet through Suraj for Rs 90,000.
Telegram groups used to share bank details
ACP Cyber Gaurav Phogat said questioning revealed that Surjeet Kumar alias Manas was in contact with people linked to the Chinese cyber-fraud network through Telegram.
“Surjeet, along with his associates Suraj Saroj, Prashant Sharma and Tej Pratap Singh Shekhawat, provided bank accounts to cyber fraudsters and assisted in executing cyber fraud activities while remaining connected with the network,” he said.
The accounts provided by the accused were allegedly used to receive and transfer money generated through cyber fraud.
Police said Surjeet was added to several Telegram groups by a person identified as Joy. He allegedly shared bank account details in these groups and received payments in cryptocurrency and through Binance.
He also allegedly collected cash from different locations through one of his associates.
Investigation into wider network continues
Police said the investigation is still underway. Officers are examining financial transactions linked to the bank accounts, the defrauded money, other suspects and the wider cyber-fraud network.
“Detailed interrogation and technical investigation regarding financial transactions carried out through bank accounts, the defrauded amount, other co-accused and the wider cyber fraud network are ongoing,” Phogat said.
(with inputs from PTI)
