ED raids in Gujarat, Maharashtra in Rs 100-cr cyber 'fraud' case

Ahmedabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches in Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of a money laundering probe against fraudsters, who allegedly committed cyber crimes like digital arrests and illegally transferred funds of more than Rs 100 crore abroad, official sources said.

The raids were conducted in Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and in Mumbai by the Ahmedabad zonal office of the federal probe agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The money laundering case stems from a 2024 Gujarat Police FIR against Makbul Doctor, Kaashif Doctor, Bassam Doctor, Mahesh Mafatlal Desai, Maaz Abdul Raheem Nada and some others, the sources said.

The accused are alleged to have been involved in cheating the general public through various cyber frauds such as fake USDT trading (crypto currency), digital arrests, threatening innocent individuals by sending fake notices of law enforcement agencies etc., they said.

Cyber frauds like 'digital arrests' and fake summons or notices sent in the name of police or investigative agencies have led to duping of a number of persons over the last few years as the victims are forced to stay on video calls over Internet-based social media platforms with the scammers extorting money from them by threatening action by law enforcement agencies.

The ED, according to the sources, suspects that funds obtained from the victims through this cyber fraud were collected in bank accounts which were opened by either using KYC of dummy persons or forging identity documents.

Such illicit funds were converted into crypto currency through various 'Angadiya' or hawala operators and they are suspected to have remitted more than Rs 100 crore funds abroad in the recent past, the sources said.