FIR in Cyberabad helps ED uncover Rs 400 crore cyber fraud

Hyderabad: A First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Cyberabad cybercrime unit led the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to uncover a pan-India fraud worth Rs 400 crore.

The FIR has proved crucial to the ED’s investigation into a cyber laundering fraud that routed more than Rs 400 crore in proceeds from online frauds through mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency channels.

As part of the investigation, the ED’s Chennai zonal office-II arrested two accused, identified as Roshan Fiaz and Ammar, on October 30 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The agency’s investigation is based on two predicate offences: the Cyberabad cybercrime FIR and another case registered by the Tamil Nadu police’s State Cyber Crime Command Centre.

The cases were booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. During the investigation, the ED also examined 10 other FIRs registered in Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal, apart from 600 cybercrime complaints linked to the network.

According to a report by The Times of India, the ED’s investigation revealed that the fraudsters lured victims into making investments through social media advertisements, job offers and share market schemes. A substantial part of the amount was subsequently converted into cryptocurrency and transferred through digital wallets to conceal its origin.

The ED suspects that Fiaz and Ammar, along with their associates, played a major role in designing and operating the layering mechanism used to divert proceeds generated from several cyber frauds.

Fiaz allegedly controlled several bank accounts in his own name, his wife’s name and those of proprietorship firms and other entities. According to the agency, debit and credit transactions in 31 such accounts exceeded Rs 300 crore. Victims’ funds were allegedly routed through these accounts before being converted into USDT cryptocurrency.

Ammar allegedly supplied mule accounts and account kits to Fiaz, including internet banking credentials, SIM cards, mobile phones and email IDs used to facilitate transactions linked to cryptocurrency trading.

Earlier searches conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA at locations linked to the accused and associated entities resulted in the seizure of Rs 14.5 lakh in cash and cryptocurrency assets worth Rs 3.2 crore. The ED also froze Rs 88.2 lakh held in bank accounts.

Both accused were produced before the special PMLA court in Chennai, which remanded them to 14 days of judicial custody.

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