MUMBAI: Khar Police have registered an FIR against two men for allegedly operating 22 mule bank accounts through which at least 42 cyber frauds were perpetrated across the country. Police said Rs 7.42 crore was collectively defrauded in these cases. One of the accused has been arrested.Khar Police were investigating a task fraud when they stumbled upon the larger racket involving mule bank accounts. The task fraud complaint was filed in February by an airline ground staffer who was duped of Rs 4.07 lakh.The woman told police that she received a message from one Riya Sanvi on February 6 offering a part-time job with no joining fee. She was asked to take screenshots of products on Amazon and send them in return for a promised commission, and was later asked to join a Telegram group.Another accused subsequently contacted her through the group and asked her to make investments to be assigned more tasks. The complainant eventually paid Rs 4.07 lakh but did not receive any commission.While investigating the case, the Khar police team was led to Pune, where they found that a flat in the Chakan area had been used to register mule bank accounts.Police identified the accused as Avinash Kharat and his associate Vikas Bhujbal. Kharat allegedly operated 13 mule accounts, while Bhujbal ran nine. Some accounts were operated in their own names, while others were opened in the names of other individuals.Police said the 22 bank accounts were used in 42 cyber scams across the country, with the total amount defrauded estimated at Rs 7.42 crore.The case was solved under the supervision of DCP Mohit Garg and senior inspector Santosh Kate.
