A 39-year-old man, K. Mathappan, from Avalapalli Hudco, near Hosur, Krishnagiri district, was arrested by Coimbatore rural police on Saturday. Mathappan is accused of assisting cybercrime fraudsters by opening 10 bank accounts to process fraudulent transactions.
The case originated from a complaint filed by G. Yogachandran, a 59-year-old online trader from Perur Chettipalayam. In August 2023, Yogachandran was tricked by a fraudster posing as a share market expert on the Telegram mobile app. The fraudster convinced him to invest in a trading app with promises of high returns.
Yogachandran transferred a total of Rs10.96 lakh into the app between August and October. The app showed a virtual account balance of Rs1.17 crore. However, when Yogachandran attempted to withdraw the money, he found that the trading app was a scam, and the displayed funds were fake. Realizing he had been duped, he filed a complaint with the rural cybercrime police.
After investigation, police traced the fraudulent transactions to several bank accounts opened by Mathappan under the names NVV Traders and Varnika Enterprises. Mathappan, who was familiar with the cybercriminals, allowed them to use his bank accounts for illegal transfers in exchange for a commission. The police discovered that over Rs10 crore was transferred into these accounts.
Mathappan had also used the illicit funds to buy cryptocurrencies worth Rs9 lakh and had Rs10 lakh in his bank accounts. The police froze all his accounts, which were involved in the scam. Mathappan was arrested on Saturday night in Hosur and remanded in judicial custody.
Investigations are ongoing to uncover more details and link further suspects to the cybercrime syndicate.
