DAVANAGERE: A major cybercrime case has been uncovered by the police in Davanagere with at least Rs 1,000 crore laundered from fake bank accounts in a span of just two months.
The case was initially unearthed by the Davanagere CEN police which initially discovered Rs 150 crore fraud, but since was found to involve a huge amount, SP Uma Prashant handed over the case to the CID for further investigation.
The case began when Pramod, a construction businessman from Davanagere, reported losing Rs 52 lakh to cyber fraudsters on August 29. The police investigation revealed that Pramod’s account had been used to launder Rs 150 crore in just two months. Further investigation led to the arrest of Syed Arfath from Hassan’s Belur and Sanjay Kunt from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The police found that Pramod had sold his current account to the fraudsters, who used it to launder money from online gaming, gambling, and fake trading. The police also discovered that the accused had received crores of rupees from Dubai into the accounts.
Pramod claimed he didn’t receive his commission for the transactions, leading to his complaint. The investigation revealed a larger racket, with the accused using fake accounts to launder over Rs 1,000 crore. The police froze Rs 18 crore in Arfath’s account and found that Rs 132 crore had been withdrawn from various bank accounts in just two months.
Given the complexity and interstate nature of the case, the CID has taken over the investigation. The police are likely to uncover more details about the racket and the involvement of other individuals.
