10 arrested for digital fraud and extortion, over Rs 50 crore uncovered

NEW DELHI: The southeast district of Delhi Police has busted 10 fraudsters in the case of an International digital fraud and extortion. The accused are detained from several states.

According to an official statement, the 10 fraudsters who had swindled many people are under police custody. Among the arrested, the mastermind is also included. The culprits were apprehended through multiple raids across seven states: Delhi, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

During the investigation of the accused, the Police have uncovered an amount of over Rs. 50 crore from fraud. The case involves 61 NCRP (National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal) complaints. Kerala, Delhi and Mumbai were key cities where the accused were arrested.

Earlier on December 14, CBI also filed a chargesheet against 17 accused, which included four foreign nationals along with 58 companies, in a transnational cyber fraud case.

After arresting the three main Indian associates of the case in October, the investigation led to the revelation of a single coordinated syndicate creating an extensive digital and financial infrastructure to defraud unsuspecting citizens. That included misleading loan apps, fake job offers and online gaming platforms.

The case was registered on the information received from 14C, the Minister of Home Affairs, indicating that a large number of citizens were being cheated through these bogus apps and employment schemes.

Upon further investigation into the cyber fraud syndicate, CBI exposed the backbone of the fraud network, which included 111 shell companies with dummy directors, forged documents and false statements of business objectives.

A prosecution has been launched in the case under Criminal Conspiracy, Forgery, use of Forged Documents, and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019. This case forms part of CBI’s large-scale ongoing initiative against transnational cyber fraud networks, Operation Chakra-V. (ANI)