Delhi cops nab gang for duping people through mule accounts, crypto wallets
Over Rs 4 crore of fraud money trailed through mule accounts and crypto wallets.
NEW DELHI: Five men were arrested for duping people in the name of investment in stocks and IPOs, laundering cheated money through multiple mule accounts and decentralised cryptocurrency wallets.
The police have suspected that the accused, who were arrested after raids in four states, have strong links with handlers operating from Cambodia.
Over Rs 4 crore of fraud money trailed through mule accounts and crypto wallets.
The accused have been identified as Vikram (40), Hari Kishan Singh (38), residents of Haryana, Mukul (33), a resident of Punjab, Akshay (29), a resident of Himachal Pradesh, and Mangu Singh (27), a resident of Rajasthan, they said.
A total of 13 high-tech mobile phones, one laptop, nine cheque books, three registers containing incriminating cyber entries and eight SIM cards have been recovered.
A complainant reported that he was added to a WhatsApp group where he was induced to invest in stock with promises of high returns. Initially, he received small profits to build trust. Later, he was shown inflated entries and induced to invest larger sums.
When he attempted to withdraw his investment, the withdrawals were blocked & he was cheated of Rs 10.7 lakh, a senior police officer said.
During the investigation, the police analysed technical surveillance, money trail, and digital footprints, and nabbed the accused people.
Recovered devices and registers contained incriminating digital evidence, records of mule accounts, and Telegram chats proving their nexus with handlers based in Cambodia.
The mastermind, Mangu Singh, along with his associate Kuldeep, came in contact with Cambodian-based fraudsters through Telegram, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Amit Goel said.
They created a group called “ATPay” where demand for different types of mule accounts was shared. The accused arranged bank accounts across different states through Vikram, Mukul and Akshay, who facilitated account openings or obtained credentials for commission. These accounts were then handed over to Hari Kishan and Mangu, who coordinated with handlers abroad, the DCP said.
The cheated money was routed into these mule accounts, layered across multiple accounts to conceal the trail, and finally converted into cryptocurrency (USDT) before being transferred to wallets controlled by Cambodia-based fraudsters. The syndicate retained around 5% as commission, Goel said.
Vikram runs a photostat shop. He opened a firm and a bank account used in fraud for commission. Mukul is an AC repair mechanic. He tested accounts and supplied them to fraudsters. Akshay is an architect who facilitated mule accounts through contacts.
Hari Kishan, an entrepreneur, joined the syndicate after business failure and supplied accounts. Mangu is the mastermind who ran the Telegram group “ATPay”; supplied accounts, laundered fraud money into cryptocurrency; contact point with Cambodian handlers, police added.
