Man who opened bank accounts for cyber frauds arrested

MUMBAI: A 35-year-old man who opened bank accounts for cyber frauds was arrested on Sunday. The latest case that led to his arrest involved a freelance consultant who was duped to the tune of ₹1.62 crore in return for huge profits in online share trading. The arrested accused, Ikaullah Samiullah Syed, was tracked after the police found the defrauded money was deposited his bank account.

The complainant is a 50-year-old consultant who lives in Kandivali. Police said she came across a share trading post on social media in February and opened the link it directed her to. The link took her to a WhatsApp group that already had 157 members. The group name was similar to a reputed company and was reportedly used to share information related to investments and trading.

A few days later, the group admin contacted her and urged her to invest, promising good returns. She invested ₹1.42 crore between February and March and saw she made good returns on the investment, said a police officer. However, when she wanted to withdraw, the admin demanded ₹19 lakh as a fee to transfer the amount. Believing him, she sent the money and found it suspicious when she received neither the initial amount nor the ₹19 lakh. She then contacted the company directly and was told her that there was no account in her name.

Realising she was cheated, she complained to the cyber helpline and cyber cell department. Following this, a case was registered for cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000. As soon as the case was registered, the police began searching for the accused. A month later, the police tracked Syed, who was already wanted for similar crimes. During interrogation, he told the police of three others working with cyber frauds. The accused allegedly received a commission for operating bank accounts for the frauds. “We have arrested Syed and are trying to trace the other frauds,” said a police officer from North Cyber police station.

Syed was taken to a local court in Borivali where he was remanded to police custody.