In a significant crackdown on digital crime, the Junagadh police have exposed a major cyber fraud network that utilized mule bank accounts to launder illicit funds. The operation came to light after investigators traced a staggering sum of Rs 2.19 crore flowing through a single account held by an accused working as a safari tourist guard in Sasan.
The Fake Firm and the Fraudulent Account
The police revealed that the account was opened at a nationalised bank's Mendarda branch in the name of a fictitious entity called "Perfect Oil Agency." The accused, identified as Firoz Rania, a resident of Sasan village, allegedly posed as the proprietor of this non-existent oil trading firm to operate the current account. Authorities believe Rania acted as a mule account holder, providing access to his account for a commission to funnel money cheated from victims across India.
Pan-India Complaints Trigger the Probe
The investigation was set into motion following 32 separate complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP). Victims from states including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana reported suspicious transactions. The common thread led investigators to a small village in Mendarda taluka, raising red flags about large-scale money movement from an unlikely location.
How the Cyber Cell Flagged the Racket
The Cyber Crime Cell played a pivotal role by issuing alerts based on transaction data analyzed from the NCCRP and the Joint Cybercrime Coordination Team Management Information System (JMIS). This data analytics flagged the suspicious activity linked to Rania's account. Assistant Police Sub-Inspector Divyarajsinh Parmar of Mendarda police station subsequently filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused.
Forensic scrutiny of the account showed it received fraudulent deposits amounting to Rs 2.19 crore, which were then quickly transferred to several other accounts in a classic money laundering pattern. All 32 complainants from the NCCRP have been listed as witnesses in the case, underscoring the pan-India footprint of this cyber fraud racket.
Implications and Ongoing Investigation
This bust highlights the sophisticated methods used by cybercriminals who recruit individuals to act as money mules, often from remote locations, to obscure the trail of stolen funds. The Junagadh police's successful tracing of the money to a single mule account in Sasan demonstrates the increasing efficacy of coordinated cybercrime reporting systems. The probe is ongoing as authorities work to identify the masterminds behind the racket and trace the ultimate beneficiaries of the laundered Rs 2.19 crore.
