Mumbai: The east region cyber police, probing an investment fraud racket, arrested a tour operator from Virar whose bank account was allegedly used in multiple cyber fraud cases across the country. Investigators suspect that several crores of rupees siphoned from victims in different states were routed through the account before being transferred to other beneficiaries, with part of the money trail believed to extend overseas.Police have arrested the tour operator identified as Nilesh Upadhaya (38), who was part of the gang that lured a retired 65-year-old Bhandup resident into investing in online trading and duped him of Rs 78 lakh. Nilesh, proprietor of Geeta Express Cargo, was arrested last week in Virar after it came to light that he received a commission for allowing his bank account to be used to siphon fraudulent money.The senior citizen from Bhandup was allegedly cheated through a fake online investment scheme. Police said the victim was added to a WhatsApp group called “VIP Investors Network” and persuaded by fraudsters posing as investment advisors to invest money through a mobile application after being shown fictitious profits.During the probe, cyber investigators traced Rs 50,000 from the defrauded amount to a bank account operated by Geeta Express Cargo, allegedly controlled by Upadhyay. Further scrutiny through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) revealed that the same account was linked to dozens of cybercrime complaints registered in Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka and West Bengal.According to investigators, Upadhyay allegedly handed over the account’s cheque book, ATM card, SIM card and banking credentials to associates in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, in return for a 5 to 10% commission on funds routed through the account. Police suspect the account functioned as a mule account used to layer and transfer proceeds of cyber frauds.
