Cyber fraud mastermind held in Bareilly; Rs 3.2 crore sent to crypto accounts abroad: scam linked to 11 states
BAREILLY: In a major breakthrough, Bareilly police on Monday arrested
Pradeep
Kumar Singh, the director of Narayani Infratech, who was a key player in a cyber fraud network spanning 11 states.
The investigation revealed that Pradeep rented out his company's bank account to cybercriminals for Rs 20 lakh. Through this account, illegal transactions worth Rs 3.2 crore were conducted.
It was found that the fraudsters converted the duped money into USDT cryptocurrency and transferred it into wallets operating from Hong Kong, making it difficult for the police to recover the money.
Bareilly's Cyber Cell SHO Dinesh Sharma told TOI, 'Pradeep received an advance of Rs 75,000 but was apprehended before receiving the remaining amount.
Following his arrest, police from other states are also preparing to take him into remand custody.
Police from Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala,
Tamil Nadu
, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and other states were pursuing this fraudster, but Bareilly police succeeded in capturing him."
Sharma further said, 'Rs 3.2 crore were transferred into a single account of Pradeep's company. The investigation found that on June 18 and 19, Rs 3.2 crore obtained through fraud were transferred to Narayani Infratech's bank account.
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Of this, Rs 1.10 crore came from the account of a scientist posted at IVRI Bareilly who was digitally arrested by the fraudsters.
The remaining amount was sent through fraud from other states. On June 20, the entire amount was withdrawn from the account, which was then frozen."
Three mobile phones, an Aadhaar card, a
PAN
card, and a crypto wallet were recovered from the arrested suspects. The crypto wallet is being investigated, which could confirm an international network.
Initial investigations suggest that this cyber fraud ring operates from China.
SP Crime Manish Sonkar said, 'The investigation is progressing rapidly and the entire network will soon be dismantled. A total of nine suspects have been sent to jail in this case.
Besides Pradeep, Mahfooz and Aman were also arrested and jailed on Sunday. Previously, the following six suspects from Lucknow, Mirzapur, Budaun, and other districts were also sent to jail."
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