The cyber crime cell of Ahmedabad City police arrested one Viren Asudariya from Surat on Monday for his involvement in a cyber fraud case amounting to Rs 1.15 crore, which involved Shailendra Raj Mehta, the president and director of the Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA).
Viren is one of 15 accused in this case. Viren told the police that Mustafa Neviwala and Moin Ingaria (the mastermind) hired him to transfer the money in cryptocurrency form to Chinese handlers.
Asudariya used the Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange to transfer bitcoins to three Chinese nationals. These individuals are also suspected of being linked to other recent frauds where victims were threatened under the pretext of having illegal items or drugs in packages addressed to them.
A police official stated that there might be more people involved in the racket, as the police have received four more similar complaints. Additionally, there have been 15 reports of fraud involving Chinese crooks. With the names of three Chinese nationals, the police plan to write to Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange soon.
Mehta was deceived by fake police calls on March 20, leading him to transfer Rs 1.15 crore. The scammers claimed that his package, seized by Mumbai Customs, contained illegal items. They also alleged unauthorised transactions from his bank account, pressuring him to transfer funds to two other accounts while posing as Mumbai Cyber Crime and CBI officials. Consequently, the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell launched an investigation, arresting thirteen people in April.