CBI arrests absconding crook for Rs 3.81crore deposit in Mumbai mule account

Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) An absconding cyber crook involved in the deposit of Rs 3.81 crore in a single day in a mule account in Mumbai was arrested by the CBI, an official said on Monday.

Neeraj was traced by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mumbai, through sustained technical surveillance, local intelligence and physical intelligence, the official said.

After his arrest, the CBI produced Neeraj in a Special Court, which remanded him to the custody of the probe agency. In this case, the preliminary chargesheet has already been filed, and three other accused are currently in judicial custody.

A mule account is a bank account used by criminals to transfer or launder illicit funds, often without the account holder's knowledge.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Neeraj was in touch with co-accused Sudhir Palande (presently in judicial custody) to open a mule account in IndusInd Bank, in which an amount of Rs 3.81 crore, being proceeds of crime, was transferred in a single day.

Neeraj further facilitated Palande’s travel from Mumbai to Nagpur for operating this mule account and managing the transfer of illicit funds, the CBI said.

In this case, the preliminary chargesheet has already been filed, and three accused persons are currently in judicial custody.

In July, three cyber crooks involved in the deposit of Rs 3.81 crore in a single day on July 2 in a mule account in Mumbai and its further distribution among other fraudsters were arrested by the Economic Offences Branch (EOB) of the CBI.

The three were identified as Palande, middleman Yash Thakur and cyber operator-cum-agent Shaurya Sunilkumar Singh, the official said in a statement.

During the investigation, the probe agency identified the middlemen involved in opening of mule account in Mumbai, facilitating arrangements of stay of the account holder in Nagpur and transferring funds in other mule accounts through other agents of Nagpur.

After receiving credits in the account, the money was further transferred to more than a hundred mule accounts opened across India in the first layer. “The money of cyber fraud was further transferred/layered to thousands of accounts before reaching actual cyber fraudsters,” said the statement.

Investigation by CBI Mumbai’s EOB revealed that agents in Nagpur and mule account holder Palande received commission in cryptocurrency, which was further distributed among the co-conspirators.

During the investigation, the CBI unearthed the entire conspiracy of opening the mule account by bankers and the middlemen without proper KYC norms or Customer Due Diligence or Initial Risk Assessment.

The guidelines issued vide the RBI Master circular and certain internal guidelines issued by the bank were also violated, said the probe agency.

--IANS

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