Berhampur: As part of the ongoing Operation Cyber Kavach, Berhampur cyber police on Wednesday arrested a 21-year-old man for allegedly managing 60 to 70 mule accounts linked to a Rs 2 crore fraud. The accused has been identified as Jyoti Ranjan alias Rohan Pradhan of Kantiagada near Rambha in Ganjam district.Police said he was part of a structured syndicate specialising in creating and operating mule accounts, which were used as conduits to launder stolen funds across a sprawling criminal network. One mobile phone containing incriminating evidence of illegal financial transactions was seized from him.According to police, the arrested accused along with two accomplices allegedly helped open 50 to 70 bank accounts. The syndicate targeted vulnerable individuals with dishonest inducements, offering false promises of monthly financial benefits, said SP (Berhampur) Saravana Vivek M. Based on these misrepresentations, victims were persuaded to open bank accounts and hand over their passbooks, ATM cards and cheque books to the accused.These accounts were then transferred to cyber kingpins, who used them to layer and integrate “black money” into the formal financial system, effectively masking the trail of stolen funds.Preliminary findings show fraudulent transactions of over Rs 2 crore conducted through just 10 verified accounts, the SP said. Data also indicates a wide national footprint, with links to crimes reported in Maharashtra (Pune, Pimpri, Osmanabad), Gujarat (Surat, Ahmedabad), Uttar Pradesh (Haridwar, Gautam Budh Nagar), Haryana (Kaithal), Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal (Kolkata, Bidhannagar, Maniktola), Telangana, Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Theni), Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.Investigation into an additional 50 to 60 bank accounts is currently underway. Issuing an advisory, the SP said holding or operating mule accounts — even out of ignorance — is a serious criminal offence. “Never open a bank account on behalf of another person. Criminals often offer small payments to use the account to ‘transfer funds’. This is a trap to involve you in money laundering,” he said.
