Thane: Police nab three men, including one named in FIR, in Rs 16,180 cr payment gateway fraud case

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Police in Maharashtra's Thane city have arrested three persons for their alleged role in a financial crime that involved breaching the system of a payment gateway service provider and siphoning off more than Rs 16,180 crore, an official said on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

He said one Amol Andale alias Aman, who is named in the FIR registered at Naupada police station on October 6, was held by the Cyber Cell of Thane police, reported PTI.

Andale allegedly arranged KYC details for opening of accounts that were used to carry out the crime, he informed.

On Thursday, two persons identified as Anup Dubey (26) of Bhayander, and Mumbai resident Sanjay Namdeo Gaikwad (42), a partner in a firm, were arrested, the official said, reported PTI.

According to the police, the fraud had been taking place for a long time, but it came to light after a complaint was lodged with the Srinagar police station about the hacking of the payment gateway system of the company in April 2023 and Rs 25 crore being siphoned off, reported PTI.

During the probe, the cyber cell team came across suspicious transactions of more than Rs 16,180 crore. The Naupada police in the city on October 6 registered a case against five persons under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467, 468 (forgery), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, reported PTI.

As per the FIR, one of the accused, named Jitendra Pandey, earlier worked for 8 to 10 years with banks as a relationship and sales manager, reported PTI.

The police suspect there may be many players in this mega racket, which has been going on for long, and may have pan-India ramifications affecting several companies and individuals, the official said, reported PTI.

The police had earlier said that the accused allegedly set up several partnership firms on bogus documents to launder the amount, reported PTI.

As many as five partnership firms were set up by the accused, and transactions to the tune of Rs 16,180 crore were revealed after the inspection of 260 bank statements, police had said, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, the police in Maharashtra's Thane district have registered a case against 20 people for allegedly stealing electricity worth nearly Rs 40 lakh, an official told PTI on Friday.

The alleged power theft was discovered by officials from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) during a raid at Khoni village in May, reported PTI.

MSEDCL officials found that about 20 residents had been illegally drawing power with the help of hooks instead of going in for regular meters, reported PTI.

After an assessment, the officials concluded that the accused had consumed nearly 1.46 lakh units of power worth about Rs 40 lakh, the police official told PTI.

On a complaint by MSEDCL, a case was registered on Thursday under the Electricity Act, said the station house officer of Mahatma Phule Chowk police station in Kalyan.

(With inputs from PTI)