Delhi Police Busts Syndicate Providing Mule Accounts To Cyber Criminals; Four Arrested Including Bank Official

The Delhi Police revealed on Wednesday that they have dismantled a syndicate facilitating cyber criminals with mule accounts—bank accounts utilized by fraudsters to stash their illicit gains—and have apprehended four individuals, including an employee of a private bank, in connection to the operation.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Vikas Ahuja, aged 45, believed to be the mastermind behind the racket, Dilip Kumar, aged 32, a chartered accountant responsible for managing illegal financial transactions into the mule accounts, Ishu (known by a single name), aged 26, and Ajay Banshkar, aged 40. Law enforcement officers disclosed the seizure of nine cellphones, 10 bank passbooks, and four ATM cards from the suspects.

Police investigations revealed that the four individuals operated two current bank accounts through which approximately ₹6 crore was transacted over a span of 3-4 months.

The arrests followed an inquiry into a cheating case lodged in January at the southwest district’s cyber police station, initiated after a city resident, Manish Kumar Meena, filed a complaint. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Rohit Meena, the complainant alleged that unknown individuals approached him on the messaging app Telegram on January 2, offering him part-time work. He was deceived into transferring money into their bank accounts under the guise of creating his ID for the job, resulting in a loss of ₹5.37 lakh before realizing the scam and filing a complaint.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the two bank accounts receiving Manish’s money were opened in the name of two separate firms, both operating from rented shops in central Delhi’s Regarpura near Karol Bagh. Further analysis of the bank accounts unveiled transactions amounting to nearly ₹6 crore. DCP Meena stated, “Eleven more cyber complaints were found linked with the accounts.”

Subsequent questioning of the owners of the bank accounts and the two firms revealed that they were individuals from a remote village in Madhya Pradesh, brought to Delhi by Banshkar under false pretenses of employment. Banshkar utilized their credentials to open the bank accounts and fake business firms without their knowledge.

The police arrested Banshkar in the last week of February, leading to the subsequent arrests of Kumar and Ishu over the following 20 days. Ahuja, the alleged mastermind, was apprehended from Laxmi Nagar last week. DCP Meena revealed that Ahuja received a commission of ₹1.5 lakh for each account and 1% of each transaction as commission.