5 days ago
Cons duped 100 across India in 907cr fraud; 3 held from Rae Bareli
Lucknow: The Rae Bareli police on Thursday arrested three cyber fraudsters for duping over 100 individuals across the country of over Rs 900 crore. The accused — Javed Jalal and Mathiazhagan from Chennai and Dilshad Alam from Bihar — had even set up a shell company by the name of Vanavil Business Solutions in Chennai to launder proceeds from cybercrimes.
Rae Bareli additional SP Sanjeev Sinha said the gang lured victims with fake offers of luxury holiday packages in Dubai, and iPhones, as well as other schemes like winning a lottery and lucrative honeymoon packages in different countries. They extracted money under the pretext of registration fees and other charges.
Sinha said the accused were part of a larger syndicate involved in nationwide cyber fraud operations.
The arrest came after investigators were alerted to high-value transactions in two Axis Bank accounts worth a total of ₹907 crore.
Further detailing the modus operandi of the gang, Sinha said the accused lured individuals with promises of commissions, acquired SIM cards, and forged documents in their names, using them to open multiple bank accounts. These accounts were then used to receive scam money routed from across India, primarily from agents based in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu.
The money would either be withdrawn and deposited into gang-controlled accounts or used for bill payments and mobile recharges, earning the fraudsters commissions, the officer added.
Javed revealed that in 2018, he and Mathiyazhagan worked for Nxtigen Services in Madurai where they met one Mehtab Alam, who later helped them establish Vanavil Business Solutions.
"Our fintech app Alpha Pay brought in crores in commission.
When authorities began freezing accounts over suspicious activity, we created new ones and continued operations. Later, Mehtab began giving us cash in Chennai, which we then redeposited and routed to designated accounts," he said.
The official said Mehtab's brother Dilshad Alam was made an Alpha Pay agent and he operated an e-wallet account through which large sums of money were moved. Cash Deposit Machine (CDM) deposits were frequently made by agents such as Sanjay Pandey from Rae Bareli, who is now absconding and believed to hold a significant portion of the gang's funds.
He added that the network operated like a shadow banking system, camouflaging large-scale illegal fund movement under the guise of fintech. Forensic audits are underway, and details of associated shell companies and digital wallets are being traced.
The trio was sent in judicial custody, and more arrests were likely as the investigation is set to widen across multiple states.
