Just three days after a major bank account rental scam was exposed in Surat, police investigations have uncovered a connection with a Thai woman named FIFA, who reportedly coordinated parts of the cyber fraud.
Authorities revealed that accused individuals from Surat were sharing stolen bank account details with FIFA via WhatsApp. The scam, involving eight arrested accused, has uncovered suspicious transactions amounting to Rs19 crore in cyber fraud.
The accused earned hefty commissions—about Rs40,000 per Rs1 crore transaction—by renting out bank accounts to cybercriminals. To facilitate this, they created around 40 bogus companies on paper to open current bank accounts, with chartered accountants under investigation for their role in opening these accounts.
Two main accused, Jignesh and Jitendra, arrested from Sarthana, formerly worked in the sales department of IDFC Bank. Leveraging their banking knowledge, they masterminded this illegal scheme by recruiting people to open bank accounts under false pretenses and hand over the account kits (checkbooks, passbooks, etc.).
Further investigations revealed that bank details were transmitted to FIFA in Thailand through a middleman named Jignesh Charlie, who communicated with the main accused using a Thailand phone number. Virtual numbers from the UK and Thailand were extensively used to mask identities and operations.
The accused frequently used online tools to create duplicate bills via a software called ‘V Vyapar’ to satisfy banking requirements. They also searched for dormant companies online and replaced resigned directors with their relatives’ names to establish fake companies like Cross World IT Solutions and Sonic Fincare Pvt Ltd.
Transactions through these 40+ fake companies exceeded Rs16 crore, with the cybercrime unit now focusing on tracing the involvement of the chartered accountant and questioning the relatives named as directors.
As the police deepen their probe into this international cyber fraud network, efforts are underway to identify the elusive Thai woman ‘FIFA’ and dismantle the broader criminal operation.
