New Delhi, Aug 6: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids at 11 locations in the national capital and three states in connection with a global cyber fraud case involving Rs 260 crore.
The ED conducted the raids under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on FIRs registered by the Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The raids were taking place in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Gurugram (Haryana), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), and Delhi The fraudsters cheated foreign and Indian nationals by posing as police or investigating officers, and extorted money after threatening them with the consequences of arrest.
The accused also impersonated Microsoft or Amazon tech support service agents and duped the victims. The monetary assets of the victims were converted into cryptocurrencies, which were further transferred to the accused persons.
The accused accrued Rs 260 crore in the form of Bitcoins in multiple crypto-wallets, which were further liquidated into cash through conversion into USDTs through multiple hawala operators/individuals in the UAE.
Earlier, on June 26, the CBI arrested a key member of a transnational cyber extortion syndicate during coordinated raids in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, a statement said. The accused, identified as Prince Jashvantlal Anand, is the mastermind of an international racket targeting foreign nationals, especially in the US and Canada.
The syndicate is accused of impersonating law enforcement and government officials, fabricating legal threats, and extorting money from unsuspecting victims. On June 25, the ED launched a coordinated crackdown across Gujarat and Maharashtra in connection with a massive cyber fraud case involving more than Rs 100 crore.
Raids were carried out in Ahmedabad, Surat, and Mumbai under the PMLA. The key accused named in the case include Maqbool Doctor, Kashif Doctor, Basam Doctor, Mahesh Mafatlal Desai, and Maz Abdul Rahim Nada, among others. Authorities allege the group duped unsuspecting victims by employing tactics such as fake enforcement notices, USDT (Tether) crypto trading scams, and false digital arrest threats.
IANS
