The Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE) in Ahmedabad has successfully dismantled an international cryptocurrency syndicate with connections to global terrorist organizations. Nine individuals have been arrested, seven of whom are residents of Ahmedabad, while the remaining two hail from Mumbai and Karnal. Investigations have revealed transactions totaling Rs 226 crore linked to this network.
Details of the Arrests
The arrested individuals from Ahmedabad include Mohsin Molani, Ejaz Pathan, Abdulkader Siddi, Naved Pathan, Faizahmed Chishti, Salmankhan Pathan, and Gulam Ansari. Zeeshan Motiwala is a resident of Mumbai, and Lovepreet Madharu is from Karnal. Notably, Gulam Ansari's son, Salman Ansari, is currently incarcerated in the United Kingdom.
Links to Terror Financing
CCoE officials stated that one of the key accused had connections to a front organization associated with the terrorist group Hamas. The investigation, led by the CCoE of CID Crime, found that cryptocurrency accounts operated through the Binance exchange were linked to 935 cyberfraud cases and were allegedly connected to global terror financing, narcotics trafficking, and dark web operations.
According to investigators, the network was exposed after cyber experts tracked suspicious cryptocurrency wallets and transaction trails. The crypto wallet of Dubai-based Mohammed Zuber Popatiya, a wanted accused in the case, was reportedly frozen earlier this year by Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). An official statement from the CCoE said that Popatiya's wallet maintained direct transactional links with the Dubai Company for Exchange, a front utilized by the Hamas terror organization.
Drug Trafficking Network Exposed
Interrogation of Ahmedabad-based accused Mohsin Molani also exposed an alleged drug trafficking network operating in the United Kingdom since 2023. Molani was allegedly coordinating narcotics supply in the UK with Popatiya and another accused, Salman Ansari, who was sentenced to six years in prison by a UK court in October 2024. Despite being lodged in a UK prison, Ansari allegedly continued to operate the network, investigators claimed.
According to CCoE, Ansari and Popatiya were the masterminds behind a complex terror-finance and Monero-based cryptocurrency routing structure. Officials alleged that illegal proceeds generated through cyberfraud, drug trafficking, and dark web transactions were routed back to India through angadia and hawala channels. Molani allegedly collected the cash and passed it on to Ansari's father, Gulam Ansari, who was among those arrested from Ahmedabad.
International Links and Blacklisted Entities
The investigation further revealed that funds allegedly flowed into the syndicate's wallets from entities blacklisted by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These included Yemen's Houthi-linked Ansar Allah, Iran's IRGC-QF, Russia-based sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex, and wallets associated with the Ilan Shor network, an official release said.
Investigators said the syndicate heavily relied on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero, which are difficult to trace and are often used in terror financing and dark web activities to evade law enforcement scrutiny.
Conversion and Routing of Illicit Funds
According to CID Crime, the accused converted illicit cryptocurrency into stable USDT coins and routed the funds through international criminal channels. A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions on criminal conspiracy and activities threatening national security, along with sections of the Information Technology Act, 2008.
