Two men were arrested on Friday for offering their bank accounts as money-mule channels to a cybercrime gang that enticed victims with promises of high investment returns. Police are currently searching for a third accomplice linked to the racket. According to DCP Cyber Shavya Goyal, the arrested individuals have been identified as Saheb Singh and Neeraj, both residents of Meerut.
The case originated from a complaint filed on October 30, in which a woman reported being defrauded of Rs5.6 crore through a fake online investment scheme. She said she was contacted on social media by an individual claiming to be a stock market expert, who then added her to a WhatsApp group dedicated to investment tips. A person posing as an analyst regularly shared stock advice, and group members appeared to be making steady profits from investments in companies, IPOs and the stock market.
Believing the claims to be genuine, the woman invested large sums, only to realise later that she had been cheated. During the investigation of the transferred funds, police discovered that significant amounts had been routed to the bank accounts of Singh and Neeraj. A police team subsequently arrested them in Hapur.
Authorities found that more than Rs65 lakh of the defrauded money had been deposited into Singh’s account. When this account was checked on the NCRP portal, officers discovered 22 complaints linked to it across multiple states.
DCP Goyal stated that Singh had long been supplying his bank accounts to members of the cybercrime network. After receiving the funds, he would withdraw the money and hand it over to Neeraj, who received a commission for facilitating the transactions. Neeraj, in turn, provided additional current accounts to another associate, Charanjeet. Each person in the chain profited from the illegal activity.
The mobile phones of both accused have been seized for forensic examination, although police suspect that some data may have been deleted. Investigators added that Singh and Neeraj were unemployed and had been searching for stable work after completing their studies. Their desperation led them to join the cybercriminal gang, and Singh is believed to have earned several lakhs through this method. He also allegedly recruited several young men from his neighbourhood into the racket.
