Jhansi: Six members of a cyber fraud syndicate were arrested in Jhansi on Friday for allegedly converting proceeds of online fraud into USDT (Tether) and handing them over to foreign handlers to prevent the money trail from being frozen and shield the perpetrators. Police said they have unearthed a money trail worth Rs 403 crore while investigating more than 325 cyber complaints across the country.ASP Areeba Nomaan said all the accused, most of whom are students, used to dupe people across the country through Chinese gaming apps. They used to receive the money in 56 different mule accounts and subsequently get it converted into cryptocurrency (USDT) with the help of their foreign handlers based in Southeast Asian countries.The arrests were made by the cyber cell team of Premnagar police during an operation. The accused were identified as Deepak Verma alias Satyam, the kingpin; Adnan Husain; Aadil Husain; Janpal; Abhishek Chaudhary; and Archit Agarwal, all aged between 23 and 25 years and residents of Jhansi.Three other gang members, Arman, Arsh Sheikh and Mohd Faiz, are still absconding.Police recovered 500 USDT, along with seven mobile phones and registers containing details of the fraud.Police were investigating the matter by taking into account more than 325 cyber complaints across the country and unearthed transactions involving a money trail worth Rs 403 crore. The mastermind of the gang, Deepak, used to operate a U-MONEY app while gaining direct access to these mule accounts.The accused used to lure poor people with lucrative incentives in exchange for access to their bank accounts.Police said the accused had been repeatedly routing the fraud proceeds through the mule accounts over a period of time before converting the money into USDT and transferring it to foreign handlers. The modus operandi was allegedly designed to make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to freeze the funds and identify the actual operators behind the cyber fraud.ASP Nomaan said the investigation was underway to establish the complete money trail and identify other people involved in the network. The accused had allegedly been committing the fraud for the past four to five years.All the accused have been booked under Sections 112(2), 318(4) and 317(5) of the BNS.“Further investigation is being carried out to trace the remaining members of the syndicate and determine the extent of their involvement in the alleged fraud,” Nomaan said.Meanwhile, retired IPS officer and national president of Azad Adhikar Sena has raised serious concerns over the cyber fraud. He has written a letter to the DGP demanding a detailed inquiry into the crime and seeking details of the end beneficiaries to whom the money was being sent, as well as the actual amount recovered in the cyber fraud.
