A major cyber fraud involving a staggering Rs. 120 crore was foiled by the Uttar Pradesh Police, with swift action resulting in the recovery of Rs. 119 crore. The fraudsters, who had created fake mail IDs and forged documents, impersonated officials from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) and Union Bank. Using these fake credentials, they siphoned a large sum of money from AKTU’s account.
The fraud was uncovered when Union Bank’s branch manager, Anju Kumar Saxena, reported suspicious activity on June 12, 2024, involving a fraudulent Fixed Deposit (FD) offer of over Rs. 100 crore. Further investigation revealed that cybercriminals had forged authority letters and KYC forms, opening an account in the name of AKTU at Union Bank. They transferred Rs. 120 crore from AKTU’s account to this newly created fraudulent account.
The police registered a case under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B IPC, and Section 66D of the IT Act. A specialized task force, operating under the supervision of Lucknow’s Police Commissioner, was quickly formed to track down the suspects. Leveraging advanced technical resources, the task force pinpointed multiple locations, including Surat, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow, leading to the arrests of seven individuals on June 17, 2024. They were taken to the Cyber Crime Police Station in Lucknow for further investigation.
Arrested Individuals:
Joshi Devender Prasad Prabhashankar
Patel Uday
Rajesh Babu
Girish Chandra
Shailesh Kumar Raghuvanshi
Dastagir Alam
Krishnakant
The police have commended the prompt action that prevented a large-scale financial disaster and successfully recovered nearly all the stolen funds. Authorities are continuing their investigation to uncover any other associates involved in this elaborate scam.