New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USA, has successfully dismantled a sophisticated virtual asset supported cyber-crime network that has been targeting US nationals since 2022 and recovered Rs 1.88 crore along with nearly three dozen electronic devices and intercepted six persons engaged in these criminal activities, the agency said on Friday.
During the period 2022-2025, the accused individuals operating under pseudonymous identities of US Government officials from Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), FBI and Social Security Administration (SSA), conspired to target US victims by threatening them that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries and that all of their assets would be freezed.
Claiming that their funds were at risk, the accused persons manipulated the victims into transferring USD 8.5 million to cryptocurrency wallets and foreign bank accounts controlled by them.
According to the CBI, it registered the case on December 9, 2025 and launched an investigation.
“CBI swiftly conducted extensive searches at multiple locations in Delhi, Noida and Kolkata, linked to the accused persons, yielding substantial incriminating evidence,” the agency said in its press note.
“CBI intercepted six persons engaged in ongoing criminal activities, red-handed, in an illegal call centre being operated by the accused persons, at Noida, Uttar Pradesh and dismantled the same. CBI has arrested six key accused persons in the case,” it added.
The names of those nabbed by the CBI are- Shubham Singh alias Domnic, Daltanlian alias Michael, George T. Zamlianlal alias Miles, L. Seiminlen Haokip alias Ronny, Mangkholun alias Maxy and Robert Thangkhankhual alias David/Munroin.
During searches conducted by CBI on December 11-12, “it has been revealed that this transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network was channelling the proceeds of crime through virtual assets and bank transfers.”
“Searches conducted at premises of the illegal call centre and the accused persons led to recovery of cash amount of Rs 1.88 Crores, 34 electronic devices viz. mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, hard disks and incriminating documents about crime,” it said.
The agency stressed that further operations are underway to identify the proceeds of crime.
Investigation into the broader network and international leads are ongoing, the CBI noted.
(IANS)
