Five nabbed in online fraud case
NEW DELHI: The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police has arrested five individuals for their involvement in a “Digital Arrest” scam linked to a Chinese company, with a retired Army Official.
The police were informed about the fraud through a complaint registered at the Cyber Police Station.
The accused were identified as Imran Qureshi (23) son of Zafar Qureshi, Asad Qureshi (24) son of Zaheer Uddeen, Dev Sagar (20) son of Lt. Devendra Sagar, Javed (20) son of Rafik, and Abhishek Yadav (23) son of Om Prakash Yadav, residents of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
According to the Police, the accused were part of a syndicate that laundered money through mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency transactions.
The arrested individuals were operated by procuring mule accounts, withdrawing fraudulently acquired funds, and converting them into USDT (a cryptocurrency) before transferring them to their handlers.
Authorities recovered 11 mobile phones, six ATM cards, a laptop, and multiple bank account documents from their possession.
The investigation began on December 8, 2024, when an 81-year-old retired Army officer from Dwarka, New Delhi, lodged a complaint.
He reported receiving a call about a non-bailable warrant in a money laundering case and was coerced into transferring 15 lakh rupees to a designated bank account while being monitored via WhatsApp video.
Following an initial probe, a case was registered under FIR No. 106/2024 at the Cyber Police Station, South West District. A special team was formed to track the money trail and analyze technical leads. The fraudulent funds were traced to a DBS Bank account registered under a Maharashtra resident, Virendra Ravindraji Kamble.
Upon interrogation, Kamble revealed he had unknowingly opened the account at the request of a Jhansi-based contact.
Technical surveillance led investigators to Paharganj, Delhi, where four of the accused were apprehended.
They admitted to arranging mule accounts and SIM cards under Abhishek Yadav’s direction. Further tracking led to Abhishek’s arrest in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
The accused sourced bank accounts from laborers and locals supplied them through Telegram, and handled transactions under the guidance of unidentified Chinese handlers. Payments were received through UPI or in USDT
via Binance.
