Mumbai: 26-year-old held in massive cyber fraud; mastermind at large

Riyazuddin Abdul Subhan

The cyber cell of the Oshiwara police has arrested a 26-year-old in connection with a cyber fraud scheme. The accused, Riyazuddin Abdul Subhan, allegedly cheated people across the country through a scam involving tasks related to online sharing and investment.

The investigation into the matter began after a 30-year-old businessman fell prey to the cyber scam and was defrauded of Rs 6.75 lakh last month. The police managed to trace the Subhan's bank accounts with the help of KYC (Know Your Customer) documents associated with them. The accused was located in Assam but was apprehended in Worli on Friday.

Subhan is believed to be a lower-level cog in the machine, acting on the instructions of a mastermind. He created a fake company named Asif Enterprises and opened current accounts in two well-known banks to deposit money obtained through cyber fraud. During the investigation, the police discovered that one of the current accounts, held in a multinational bank in Assam, had a closing balance of Rs 1.15 crore, while the other account, in a different bank but in the same firm's name, had a balance of Rs 1.21 lakh. With the assistance of a nodal officer, the police immediately froze the accounts, preventing the loss of about Rs 1.36 crore.

Further investigation revealed that Subhan, along with an associate in Assam, had been working for the scamsters for the past two years. They had created multiple fake current accounts under various bogus company names and were responsible for depositing money obtained from victims, totalling around Rs 5 crore. Subhan received a commission of R1 crore for each account, and he was also responsible for transferring the fraudulent funds to the mastermind. The police investigation aims to identify and apprehend other individuals involved, including the mastermind behind the operation.