ED arrests two in ₹400-crore cyber fraud network, finds 600 cyber complaints

ED’s probe under the PMLA stems from a dozen FIRs registered across Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal over a period of time.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two individuals in a ₹400 crore cyber fraud network, in which the accused allegedly offered investment schemes and jobs to cheat people, then laundered the money through mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, officials said.

The agency has identified as many as 600 cybercrime complaints in the matter.

The arrested persons have been identified as Roshan Fiaz and Ammar, who, the agency said in a statement on Thursday evening, were taken into custody last week.

ED’s probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) stems from a dozen first information reports (FIRs) registered across Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal over a period of time.

How the fraudsters operated

ED said the fraudsters contacted victims via phone calls and social media platforms, on the pretext of investment schemes, job offers, stock market investments, and other online opportunities.

Once the victims transferred money into bank accounts provided by the fraudsters, the funds were split into smaller amounts and routed through a network of mule accounts to conceal their origin. A portion of the money was subsequently withdrawn in cash, while another portion was transferred into cryptocurrency wallets, the agency said.

A portion of the proceeds was converted into cryptocurrency, particularly Tether (USDT).

“...more than 600 cybercrime complaints have surfaced linked to the same network. Proceeds of crime of more than ₹400 crore generated from hundreds of cybercrime and online frauds were diverted and layered by the accused persons through a network of mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency transfer,” the agency added.

How the two arrested persons fit into the network

Fiaz, ED said, was a key operator who maintained an extensive chain of mule bank accounts in his own name, his wife’s name and several proprietorship firms.

“Debit and credit transactions exceeding ₹300 crore were detected in 31 such bank accounts,” ED said.

Ammar, according to ED, “supplied mule bank accounts of various individuals and entities, along with account kits, net-banking credentials, SIM cards, mobile phones and e-mail IDs to Roshan Fiaz, for receiving INR from crypto buyers”.

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  Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More