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, police said Friday.
The arrested accused were identified as Prakash Sharma, Sunny Barve alias Jocker, Prasanna Kumar Nag and Jubaraj Deep.
According to police, the case involves fraudulent proceeds of around Rs 35 lakh, which had been flagged through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
During the investigation, police found that the allegedly defrauded money was 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 procured credentials of mule accounts, layered the fraud proceeds through multiple transactions and withdrew the money in cash before handing it over to successive handlers, police said.
Investigators also found that foreign-routed WhatsApp Business virtual numbers were allegedly used to coordinate the operation, exchange account credentials and issue instructions for fund transfers and cash withdrawals.
Police seized mobile phones, cheque books, passbooks and debit cards from the accused during the investigation.
The investigation is continuing on an evidence-based approach to identify and apprehend other persons allegedly involved, trace the ultimate beneficiaries and recover the cheated money, police said.
Authorities are also working to dismantle the wider network, including its alleged inter-state linkages, financial channels and digital infrastructure.
