LUCKNOW: The cyber crime unit of the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate has arrested two Nigerian nationals — Modebe Joseph (42), son of Modebe, and Sunday Okonkwo (35), son of Okonkwo, both residents of Nigeria — for allegedly being part of an international cybercrime syndicate involved in hacking cooperative banks and siphoning off large sums of money.According to police, the accused are linked to a cyber threat actor group known as “Solar Spider”, which targets financial institutions with weak cyber security systems. Investigators said the gang’s objective was to exploit vulnerabilities in cooperative banks and siphon off between ₹60 crore and ₹80 crore through fraudulent online transactions.Joint cyber operationThe arrests were carried out in a joint operation by the Cyber Crime Police Station, the team of Knowledge Park Police Station and the cyber commando unit of the Meerut Zone. Police had received intelligence inputs that the “Solar Spider” module had become active in the region over the past week.Following the tip-off, authorities conducted covert surveillance and tracked down the suspects, eventually arresting them during a targeted operation.Modus operandiAdditional DCP, (cyber/narcotics) GB Nagar police, Shavya Goyal, said the gang specifically targeted cooperative banks, which often have relatively weaker cyber security infrastructure compared to larger commercial banks. The accused allegedly planned to transfer stolen funds into multiple “mule accounts” — bank accounts used to conceal or move illicit money.From these accounts, the money was to be converted into cryptocurrency and transferred abroad to avoid detection.“During preliminary investigation, police found that the accused had already carried out a cyber fraud involving a cooperative bank in Bhavnagar in Gujarat. During the weekend of March 7–8, the suspects managed to siphon off around ₹7 crore from the bank. Investigators believe the transaction was deliberately executed over the weekend when the bank was closed, reducing the chances of immediate detection,” said Goyal.Goyal added that once the magnitude of the cyber threat became clear, the police alerted the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the concerned banking institutions.She said the swift intervention helped prevent further fraudulent transactions that could have resulted in losses worth several crores of rupees.Goyal said the arrested suspects are part of a wider international cybercrime network with links to criminal groups operating in Nigeria and South Africa.Police added that the same Solar Spider network had also been exposed in 2025 by the Gautam Buddh Nagar cyber police when another module linked to the syndicate was busted.Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network, trace the financial trail and determine whether additional banks were targeted by the cybercriminal group.
