Pune: Wanowrie police recently arrested five men for facilitating their bank accounts as mules to cyber fraudsters.An investigation by the police has revealed that the cybercriminals with these bank accounts defrauded 19 people across the country of Rs 1.8 crore. The police probe found that an alleged mastermind paid other members of the gang to let their bank accounts to be used for depositing money obtained from the frauds they committed.The police team arrested them on Sept 5. They have been identified as Shravan Rajendra Ankush (25), a resident of Uruli Devachi; Hariom Hariram Sahu (24), a resident of Salunke Vihar; Saud Idafan Shaikh (23); and Sahil Rauf Shaikh (25) and Talib Noormohammad Shaikh (25), the latter three are residents of Yerawada.Maharashtra cyber police department had received information that some mule bank accounts were being used in cyber frauds. The department had directed the Wanowrie police to register a case and investigate.According to the police, as many as 19 people across the country had been defrauded in the cyber frauds. The money was deposited into the bank accounts of the five suspects in Pune.Senior inspector Pandit Rejitwad said, “During the investigation, we learnt that Ankush was allegedly the mastermind of the gang. Ankush, through his associates, got the bank accounts opened using fake documents to facilitate the fraud.”“Ankush and Sahu allegedly told the other three suspects that they would be paid Rs 5,000 for every transaction in their account involving money obtained through cyber fraud,” he said.
