According to police, one of the accused is suspected to be linked to Chinese cybercrime groups.
The matter came to light when Ashok Kumar filed a complaint of being defrauded of Rs 64.75 lakh in a trading scam. “The victim was instructed to transfer funds into five different accounts under the guise of making stock purchases with promises of high returns,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari said in the statement.
Following the complaint, police launched an investigation. The IFSO team tracked the trail of money and discovered it had been routed through multiple layers of mule accounts before being withdrawn in small tranches. Detailed technical surveillance and financial analysis led to the identification and arrest of two key suspects, he said.
One of the accused — Vaddoriya Kewin Mukeshbhai (25) — was arrested from Surat in Gujarat. He is a BBA student and was active in several social media-based Chinese cybercrime groups, police said.
Vaddoriya is accused of procuring and selling bank accounts on commission, which were then used for laundering funds from scams. Notably, he had previously been arrested in a digital arrest fraud case in Maharashtra.
The second accused — Abdul Barik (32) — is a resident of Roorkee. He has minimal formal education. Barik had earlier been booked under cybercrime-related charges in an FIR registered in Shahdara in Delhi.
“The arrested men were instrumental in providing the digital infrastructure, mule accounts and identity documents, which enabled international fraudsters to launder money from Indian victims,” the DCP said. During the operation, the police recovered six mobile phones equipped with Chinese applications and online wallets. Investigators revealed that the accused were receiving commissions in USDT (a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar) through an application, a globally used crypto exchange platform. Police officials suspect the involvement of a broader international racket with connections to Chinese cyber operatives. Further investigation is underway. PTI BM HIG HIG
