Gandhidham, Feb 17 (NationPress) The Cyber Crime Police in East Kutch have revealed a sophisticated mule account network involved in routing transactions surpassing Rs 182 crore through 81 bank accounts allegedly utilized to facilitate cyber fraud across various states, as per officials on Tuesday.

Four suspects - Yash Bhatia, Siddharth Soni, Sahil Sharma, and Alpesh Luhar - have been apprehended in relation to this case.

Another suspect is currently incarcerated in Himmatnagar jail for a separate crime.

Four additional individuals, identified as Illubha Jadeja, Vishvarajsinh alias Vishubha Balubha Jadeja, Vijay Rana, and Hardik Rajgor, remain at large.

SP Sagar Bagmar reported that a case has been registered under multiple sections of the BNS at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Gandhidham.

“This crime involves cyber fraud where a gang established mule accounts, redistributed stolen funds, and profited from the scam as commissions. We have identified eight suspects, with Yash Bhatia being the principal accused, who orchestrated the formation of different groups to open bank accounts,” he stated.

According to investigators, the accused targeted economically disadvantaged, less-educated, and financially unstable individuals from various villages by promising commissions and high returns.

Using their identity documents, shops were leased in Gandhidham and Adipur, and companies were registered in their names without their consent, listing them as proprietors.

Police disclosed that Udyam registrations were acquired through a tax consultant, and fraudulent invoices were produced under these firms to facilitate financial dealings.

Savings and current accounts were opened across numerous banks using PAN and Aadhaar details, alongside the procurement of new SIM cards and bank kits for operation.

Some shops had backing from sale agreements, while others did not, but commissions were allegedly collected for opening and managing the accounts.

The accounts were subsequently used to receive and transfer funds from cyber fraud nationwide, with members acting as brokers or commission agents for routing money.

The total deposited amount was Rs 182,37,68,862, and Rs 5,00,532 was withdrawn by cheque and retained by the accused, who were allegedly aware it was from fraudulent activities, officials reported.

Searches on the national cybercrime reporting Samanvaya portal revealed 74 complaints lodged across India concerning these accounts.

The network is believed to have functioned in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, among other states.

During the investigation, police discovered that firms had been registered in the names of individuals from Rapar, Adesar, Bhuj, and Wankaner, many of whom were unaware that current accounts had been established in their names.

Several accounts have been frozen, and documents along with five mobile phones have been confiscated as the investigation continues.