Bhubaneswar: The Balangir Cyber Crime and Economic Offences (CC & EO) Police Station has busted an organised mule-account network allegedly used to route and withdraw proceeds of a cyber-enabled investment fraud and arrested four persons in connection with the case, Odisha Police sources said Friday
The arrested accused have been identified as Prakash Sharma, Sunny Barve alias Jocker, Prasanna Kumar Nag and Jubaraj Deep.
According to police, the case involves fraudulent proceeds amounting to Rs 35 lakh, which had been flagged through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
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Investigation revealed that the fraud proceeds were allegedly routed through bank accounts opened in the names of business entities, including Samaleswari Enterprises, Maa Samaleswari Agro Enterprises and Maa Agro Enterprises.
The network allegedly operated by procuring credentials of mule accounts, layering the cheated money through multiple transactions, withdrawing the funds in cash and handing them over to successive handlers.
Police also unearthed the alleged use of foreign-routed WhatsApp Business virtual numbers for coordinating the operation, sharing account credentials and issuing instructions for fund transfers and cash withdrawals.
During the investigation, police seized mobile phones, cheque books, passbooks and debit cards from the accused.
Odisha Police said the investigation was being conducted on an evidence-based approach to identify and apprehend all other persons involved, trace the ultimate beneficiaries and recover the cheated amount.
The police are also working to dismantle the entire organised network, including its inter-state linkages, financial channels and digital infrastructure, the sources said.