NEW DELHI, June 10: A cooperative bank deputy manager was arrested for allegedly facilitating a mule account used for cyber fraud here, police said on Wednesday. Police detected transactions worth approximately Rs 67.92 crore routed through the account across the country.
The accused Pabitra Kumar Biswal (42) was working as deputy manager at a cooperative bank's New Kondli branch in east Delhi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Rajeev Kumar said in al statement.
The account came under scrutiny during an analysis of complaints reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), he said. Investigators found that the account had surfaced in 159 cyber fraud complaints registered across the country and was repeatedly used to receive and transfer money allegedly obtained through online frauds. A case was registered.
During the investigation, police found that the account was maintained under the name of "Mahakal Enterprises" and was purportedly opened using the credentials of one Shailendra Kumar Yadav. However, when police traced and questioned Yadav, he denied opening the account, visiting the bank branch or signing any account-opening documents.
Police said verification established that he was not present at the bank during the relevant period and that the signatures on the account-opening forms did not match his admitted signatures. Investigators concluded that Yadav's identity and credentials had allegedly been misused to open the account without his knowledge or consent.
The probe then focused on bank officials responsible for processing and approving the account-opening application. Police said an examination of bank records revealed that the account had been verified and approved under Biswal's authority.
During interrogation, Biswal allegedly admitted that he had neither physically verified the firm nor visited the address mentioned in the account-opening documents.
Police said the investigation revealed serious violations of Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, customer due diligence requirements and mandatory verification procedures. Documentary evidence collected during the probe corroborated these findings, they said.
Police said the account, opened on the basis of allegedly unverified credentials, was subsequently used for routing proceeds of cyber frauds on a large scale.
Authorities suspect that mandatory safeguards meant to prevent misuse of the banking system were ignored, thereby facilitating the operation of a mule account allegedly used by cyber criminals. Police recovered two mobile phones from Biswal's possession.
Further investigation is underway to identify other beneficiaries, facilitators, bank accounts and individuals linked to the larger cyber fraud network. (PTI)
