CBI Raids Seven States, Arrests Three In Big Mule Account Bust
Voluminous incriminating evidence, including mobile phones, bank account opening documents, transaction records, and KYC papers, was seized”: Spokesperson reported
NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday arrested three individuals in connection with a mule bank account network used by cyber fraudsters, following raids in seven states, including Delhi.
Last month, under Operation Chakra V, an ongoing effort to combat cybercrime and digital arrest scams, the agency uncovered the mule accounts. “The arrested persons played active roles in facilitating and operating these accounts to channel and conceal the proceeds of various cyber frauds,” officials said.
Acting on fresh intelligence about the operators’ hideouts, the CBI conducted searches across Delhi, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan. “Voluminous incriminating evidence, including mobile phones, bank account opening documents, transaction records, and KYC papers, was seized,” a spokesperson reported.
These searches aim to dismantle cybercrime syndicates by identifying and neutralising mule accounts used for laundering illicit funds. The arrested suspects facilitated the operation of these accounts, the CBI said.
Previously, the CBI exposed a nationwide network of mule accounts, booking 37 individuals under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Over 850,000 mule accounts remain under scrutiny.
“These individuals, acting as account holders, agents, and complicit bank employees, knowingly colluded with cybercriminals to open and operate mule accounts for receiving, transferring, and withdrawing fraud proceeds,” the spokesperson added.
Earlier raids on June 26 and 27 at 40 locations across several states resulted in 10 arrests for similar offences. The mule accounts were used to launder proceeds from digital arrest scams, impersonation, fraudulent advertisements, investment frauds, and other cyber offences.
The CBI has adopted a strategic approach to undermine cybercrime infrastructure by targeting three key pillars: Financial infrastructure: Mule accounts, unauthorised payment gateways, and misused fintech channels, Mule SIM cards, illegal SIM activations via PoS agents, and supply networks and organised syndicates that recruit and exploit individuals, often abroad, to execute cybercrimes, a practice now dubbed “cyber slavery.”
