In a major breakthrough, police arrested Umealakei Emeka, aka Alex, a 53-year-old Nigerian national, and Savej, aka Sanu, a 26-year-old resident of Ghaziabad, for their involvement in a cyber heist that targeted the Nainital Bank’s branch in Noida Sector 62. The duo, along with others, hacked the bank’s server, siphoning off a total of Rs16.71 crore through 84 transactions between June 16 and June 20, 2024.
According to Vivek Ranjan Rai, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cybercrime Branch, the investigation was triggered by unusual withdrawals from six active bank accounts that had received the stolen money. Savej was arrested after the authorities traced the accounts and discovered that he worked for Emeka in exchange for a 4% share of the profits.
Further investigations revealed Emeka’s ties to the drug trade, and the police recovered 56.34 grams of MDMA, valued at Rs20 lakh, from his possession. During a raid at Emeka’s residence in Greater Noida, police found two Delhi-based men, Amit Gupta (28) and Deepak Gupta (39), who had come to purchase MDMA. Both were arrested, adding further layers to the ongoing investigation.
Emeka, who moved to India in 2003 and married a woman from Manipur in 2007, was part of a network of Nigerian nationals who were responsible for the bank server hack. They managed to siphon off the stolen money into 84 bank accounts, many of which were either rented or used fake identities. The police discovered that Emeka was directly linked to Rs1.40 crore of the stolen amount.
The hack was first discovered on June 17, 2024, when bank officials noticed discrepancies of Rs3 crore during routine account reconciliation. Suspecting a technical issue initially, they escalated the matter on June 19, reporting the breach to the police. A formal investigation was launched, and a case was registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 66C (fraudulent use of electronic signatures) of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.
During the investigation, the police arrested additional suspects, including Harsh Bansal (29), his brother Shubham Bansal (28), and Kuldeep Kumar (39), for their involvement in the cybercrime operation. Sections 468 (forgery), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 201 (disappearance of evidence) were added to the charges.
The police have managed to freeze Rs3.80 crore out of the Rs16.71 crore that was stolen. In addition to the recovered Rs3.80 crore, the police seized ₹50,000 in cash, eight checkbooks, seven bank passbooks, seven mobile phones, one laptop, two internet modems, nine mobile SIM cards, three debit cards, and two passports from Emeka’s possession. Furthermore, 39.58 grams of MDMA was recovered from Emeka, with 8.08 grams and 8.68 grams of MDMA seized from Deepak Gupta and Amit Gupta, respectively.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been added against Emeka and the two Gupta brothers, with the investigation still ongoing.
