The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three men for allegedly siphoning off Rs 3.81 crore through online fraud in a single day using mule accounts. The CBI booked a mule account holder, unidentified cyber scamsters, bank officials, and others for allegedly committing cybercrime using a mule account. The crime proceeds were promptly dispersed to over 100 mule accounts across India in the scheme’s first layer, then routed through thousands of additional accounts in a sophisticated attempt to obfuscate their origin before reaching the principal fraudsters. The CBI unearthed the entire conspiracy of opening mule accounts by bankers and middlemen without proper KYC norms or customer due diligence or initial risk assessment. The actions were in violation of guidelines issued vide the RBI Master circular. The CBI searches resulted in the seizure of a trove of incriminating documents and digital evidence, including mobile phones, iPads, bank account opening documents, transaction details, and KYC documents. The CBI identified individuals involved in the opening of mule accounts in Mumbai, facilitating the stay of an account holder in Nagpur, and transferring funds to other mule accounts through agents in Nagpur.
