ED Unveils Cyber Fraud Syndicate: Four Arrested for Rs. 2.6 Crore Scam and Money Laundering
(Judicial Quest News Network)
New Delhi 14, September,2024
On September 13, 2024, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) apprehended four individuals—Tamilarasan Kuppan (29), Prakash (26), Aravindan I (23), and Ajith (28)—in Pallipattu, Tamil Nadu, in connection with a sophisticated cyber fraud involving Rs. 2.6 crore. The accused are charged with orchestrating a complex scheme where they posed as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers to defraud victims and launder the proceeds through shell companies.
The Hon’ble Special Court in Bengaluru has granted the ED custody of the accused for four days. Additionally, the ED has frozen Rs. 2.8 crore of the proceeds of crime (PoC) in a bank account associated with the shell company M/s Cyber forest Technology Private Limited.
The investigation commenced following multiple FIRs filed across the country, including FIR No. 330 registered on September 3, 2024, by the Special Offences and Cyber Crime Police in Jaipur. The victim of this FIR received a fraudulent call from someone claiming to be from the Bombay Custom Office, who alleged that illegal goods were being shipped under the victim’s name. The victim was coerced into making a ‘fund legalization’ payment to avoid legal repercussions, transferring approximately Rs. 2.16 crore in three installments to different accounts provided by the fraudsters.
The scheme escalated when the fraudster, posing as a CBI officer, pressured the victim by arranging calls from individuals falsely claiming to be from Delhi Police to corroborate the fraudster’s credentials. Under duress, the victim was extorted of his entire life savings.
Acting swiftly, the ED froze Rs. 2.8 crore in a Bandhan Bank account belonging to M/s Cyberforest Technology Private Limited on September 12, 2024. The investigation revealed that transactions related to the cyber fraud were coordinated via a WhatsApp group involving the arrested individuals and Chinese scammers. Tamilarasan Kuppan was identified as being in direct contact with Chinese operatives to facilitate the laundering of the frozen funds.
The accused were found to have played pivotal roles in setting up shell companies and opening bank accounts used to launder illicit gains from various cyber fraud schemes. The syndicate, led by Tamilarasan with Ajith, Prakash, and Aravindan, was instrumental in providing dummy directors, addresses, and documents for these shell entities, and liaising with bank personnel to facilitate transactions.
The ED’s ongoing investigation, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, has so far resulted in the arrest of four additional individuals—Shashi Kumar M, Sachin M, Kiran S K, and Charan Raj C—in Bengaluru, now in judicial custody. A total of 17 searches have been carried out, yielding incriminating materials and seizing digital devices. The investigation has identified PoC exceeding Rs. 28 crore linked to cyber scams.
Further investigation into the cyber fraud and money laundering activities is underway.
