CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu cyber crime police on Wednesday said they have arrested six accused in a case where a Madurai native was scammed of Rs 96.5 lakh after responding to a fake advertisement on WhatsApp promoting an international share-trading business opportunity.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that these individuals were involved in cyber offences in multiple states including Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi and various regions in Tamil Nadu.
An official statement said that the victim had transferred funds across multiple bank accounts and eventually realised that he had been deceived when the promised returns were not provided after which he lodged a complaint with the Madurai District Cyber Crime Police Station for legal action and recovery of the lost amount.
A special team investigating the case initially froze Rs 38.28 lakh in various bank accounts linked to the suspects. Further investigations showed that Rs 22 lakh of the scammed money was transferred to two accounts of one S Seeni Mohamed from Alwar Thoppu, Thennur, Trichy. Further analysis revealed that he had withdrawn the cash via cheque from his bank accounts.
The Cyber Crime Police have frozen his accounts and the special team arrested the accused. Cops found that under the direction of an individual named L Ibrahim from Uraiyur, Trichy and for a commission amount, A Mohamed Sabeer, A Mohamed Riyaz from Dhana Rathinam Nagar, Trichy, L Mohamed Azharudeen from Uraiyur, Trichy and Mohamed Marzuk from Ayyampettai, Thanjavur had executed the crime.
Cops said that the accused withdrew the scammed cash and gave it to the persons who brought the code word received on their WhatsApp. This money was then transferred to other bank accounts with the accused receiving a commission of Rs 1,000 for every Rs 1 lakh transferred.
The special team went to Trichy and Thanjavur and arrested the accused and seized cell phones, SIM cards, bank account books and ATM cards used in the crime.
The investigation revealed that the suspects had utilized multiple bank accounts, laundering approximately Rs 1 crore from the public and transferring it to various accounts through this method.