Cyber cheats’ gang diverts 2cr to China via crypto | Mumbai News
Mumbai: Aryan Mishra, alias Aaru, a 33-year-old LLB dropout from Lucknow and leader of a gang of online fraudsers, was arrested recently for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai-based healthcare logistics company of Rs1.96 crore between April 12 and April 15. Mishra transferred the funds to cyber fraudsters in China after converting the siphoned money into cryptocurrency.The gang communicated and operated through a Telegram group. They impersonated the director of the Mumbai-based logistics company, contacted the company, and instructed the financial officer to transfer the funds immediately, claiming that the director was in a meeting with a govt official and the money needed to be invested in a healthcare project.West cyber police seized 28 mobiles, one laptop, 16 SIMs from different mobile service providers, 13 cheque books, and eight debit cards. The team also recovered a pistol and four live cartridges found in possession of Mishra.The transfer of funds to Chinese scammers was established after cyber police arrested Shubham Kunjir (28) from Pune, Ujwal Raj Singh (29) from Andheri, Akshay Shelke (28) and Shubham Pardeshi (28) from Nashik, and Aditya Shinde alias Lucifer (31) from Goa last month.“The gang contacted people through social media, offering them stays in hotels and assuring them that their expenses would be covered, in addition to giving them money. In return, the gang took the banking account kits opened in their name and used them to receive and park money from cyber victims. This came to light while the police probed Rs1.96 crore duped from the Mumbai-based healthcare logistics company in April,” cyber police said.The complaint was filed by the healthcare company’s official who received a call from a person impersonating the company’s director, using the director’s photo as a WhatsApp DP, and asked to transfer the money.DCP (cyber) Purushottam Karad supervised the team, including ACP Rajendra Shirtode, senior inspector Suvarna Shinde, inspector Savita Mali, assistant inspector Dr Nitin Gacche, and other members of the staff. They nabbed Lucifer, who is a film course graduate; pharmacy graduate Pardeshi, and Shelke, an engineer; besides Kunjir and Singh, both school dropouts. The team led the police to kingpin Mishra.“The gang members were paid at least Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 a for their work,” said the police.Cyber police traced the six members through the Telegram group they had created.“They confessed that the money earned fraudulently was converted into cryptocurrency and transferred overseas to their Chinese counterparts. Police recovered Rs 39 lakh of the total defrauded amount. The gang’s modus operandi involved recruiting individuals to work on daily commissions, bringing them to Mumbai, providing hotel accommodations, facilitating the opening of bank accounts, and obtaining banking kits to park the defrauded money,” said the police.The police stated they are reviewing bank accounts to determine the total fraudulent transactions carried out, after claiming to have been operating since December 2024.They informed the police that they set up the internet banking access for Kunjir’s account and subsequently shared the login credentials, including user ID, password, and OTP, with an individual who identified himself as ‘Mr Lucifer’ through WhatsApp. Additionally, they facilitated transactions by allowing him remote control of the mobile device.
