Malwani Police busts cyber fraud gang using fake companies to defraud people

The Malwani Police in Mumbai have busted a gang involved in a sophisticated cyber fraud operation and arrested two accused who were using fake companies and bank accounts to route money obtained through online scams the officials said on WednesdayAccording to the police officials the accused used to lure job seekers by promising employment opportunities and would collect their documents under the pretext of completing job formalities Using these documents they registered fake private companies and opened current accounts in various banksThese accounts were then used to deposit and move money acquired through cyber fraud police saidThe cyber fraud came to light when a 20yearold complainant received a GST notice to the address linked with one of the fake companies Bank account transactions amounting to approximately Rs 342 crore were recorded within a span of just four months an official saidThe complainant is a 20yearold woman and a resident of Malwani who was searching for a job when she came in contact with the accused Abhishek Pandey and Akash Vishwakarma through Signal The duo promised her employment and collected her personal documents under the guise of completing hiring formalities said investigating officer Police Sub Inspector D Kurkute Malwani Cyber UnitThe accused used the complainantrsquos documents to set up a fake private limited company and opened multiple current accounts in her name across different banks In one such account around Rs 342 crore was transacted over the last four monthsThe fraud came to light when the complainant received a GST notice alerting her to the misuse of her identityBased on the information and mobile numbers shared by the complainant the police traced and arrested both accused from the Goregaon area on Tuesday said an officer from Malwani Police StationDuring interrogation it was revealed that the accused had duped dozens of job seekers in a similar mannermdashcollecting their documents creating fake companies and operating bank accounts to route largescale fraudulent transactionsThe accused used to transfer the gangrsquos fraudulently obtained money to other individuals linked to the network Based on the information provided by the arrested suspects police are now actively searching for other members associated with the cyber fraud racketAmong the arrested Abhishek Pandey is a resident of Borivali while Akash Vishwakarma hails from Kandivali They were in contact with a larger cyber fraud gang and received a commission of Rs 5000 per transaction made through the fake party accounts they helped create the officer addedUnder the guidance of DCP Anand Bhoite Zone 11 the cyber team including PSI Amar Shinde PSI D Kurkute and cyber staff cracked this racketWe have seized a large cache of evidence from the accused including 204 SIM cards 115 bank passbooks from various banks 271 debit and credit cards a laptop printer and mobile phones said Senior Inspector Shailendra Nagarkar of Malwani Police StationFurther investigation is underway to identify other victims and accomplices involved in the racketWe urge job seekers to remain vigilant and avoid sharing personal documents without proper verification he addedatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params