PANAJI
Two villas in North Goa were used as bases by cybercrime gangs accused of moving nearly Rs 900 crore through thousands of bank accounts, with Maharashtra police alleging that the operations were controlled by a Dubai-based network. Separate raids by Mumbai Police Crime Branch at two Candolim villas in August-September led to the arrest of 22 people. Police suspect the accused fraudulently obtained money through thousands of accounts using a specialised application. “The raids exposed how these rented holiday villas in Goa were allegedly being used as operational centres for cyber fraud. The accused were working in shifts and even enjoying access to casinos and nightclubs during their free time,” the police said. At one of the villas, police arrested 12 people, including 11 from Gujarat and one from Mumbai. The team seized 15 laptops, 128 ATM cards, 85 mobile phones, 76 SIM cards, 22 cheque books, 77 passbooks and six routers, among other items. The raiding team also found that the bank accounts handled by the accused was used in 186 cybercrime cases across the country. Police froze Rs 120 crore spread across 7,500 bank accounts and believe nearly Rs 500 crore was moved by the gang operating from the villa.
“The investigation began in Mumbai, where the Crime Branch raided an office at Parsvnath Chambers in Masjid Bunder on July 3. The office allegedly recruited employees to open current accounts in banks and arrange SIM cards linked to those accounts. Our team found that although the accounts were opened in Mumbai, they were subsequently operated from Goa. The bank welcome kits and SIM cards were handed over to other members of the network for use in the fraudulent transactions,” the police added. The police team then traced the operation to a Candolim villa where the accused allegedly worked in three eight-hour shifts, ensuring that transactions could be carried out whenever victims transferred money. Police said the gang used an application called Banker Panel to transfer money from a victim’s account to thousands of other accounts at the click of a button. The method was intended to disperse the money quickly and make it difficult for banks and the police to freeze the funds. The accused allegedly earned monthly salaries and commissions based on the amount of money moved. Police said those arrested earned Rs 35,000 a month, besides a three per cent share of the money they transferred.
A second operation was uncovered at another villa, where the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested 10 people. The probe indicated the gang moved around Rs 400 crore through a similar network of bank accounts.
In this case, the accused were allegedly paid a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 and a percentage of the money they handled. Police said some earned between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh a month. Mumbai police suspect both operations were controlled by a Dubai-based Indian who used the name Ranveer Kapoor. Police are coordinating with authorities in Dubai to secure his return to India. “The network operated through several levels, including people who supplied bank accounts, agents who procured the accounts, intermediaries who activated them and operators who transferred the money. We also found that gaming platforms were allegedly used to route commissions to the operators through transactions that appeared legitimate. The portals identified during the investigation included XXX247, 900 Panel and Rudra,” it said. The investigation also led police to Jaipur, where they traced a person identified as Bua Smith, an Ahmedabad native who allegedly operated under the name Ashwathama and coordinated activities through WhatsApp groups. The Mumbai Police said the Goa villas were not isolated cases and that similar networks were operating from other locations. The owners of the villas have reportedly told the police they were unaware of the alleged illegal activities until a call from the police. Goa Police assisted the Mumbai Crime Branch during the raids.
