Mumbai: 22 bankers under scanner in Rs 68-lakh investment scam

The North Cyber Police have arrested three individuals, including an employee of a private bank, for allegedly aiding cyber fraudsters by opening multiple bank accounts used for illegal money transfers. The arrests were made in connection with a Rs 68 lakh cyber fraud case reported earlier this year.

The scam came to light during the investigation of a complaint lodged in January by a 37-year-old IT professional from Borivli, who was duped of R68 lakh by fraudsters while investing in what appeared to be a legitimate share trading opportunity.

Following the FIR, a special team led by Senior Police Inspector Suvarna Shinde, under the supervision of Police Inspector Sudhakar Humbe and Lady Assistant Police Inspector Savita Kadam, began a detailed probe. On Sunday, the team arrested the three accused from Kandivli, Borivli, and Mira Road. The detained individuals have been identified as Umesh Vishwakarma, 32 — a bank employee from Kandivli — Sachin Sawant, 48  — a contractor and electrician from Borivli, and Vibhaan Mishra, 31 — a security guard from Mira Road.

Layers of the scam

According to police officials, Umesh Vishwakarma, who works at a private bank, was responsible for opening current accounts and received both a salary and incentives for each new account. About a year and a half ago, he came in contact with Sachin Sawant, who secured electrical contracts from government bodies.

Sawant initially registered fake companies in his name and in the names of family members, then sold these entities to cyber fraudsters. Realising the high profitability, he began using documents of relatives, friends, and acquaintances to create even more fictitious companies and opened accounts in nationalised and multinational banks. To make the fake companies appear legitimate, Sawant even rented shops and posed them as company offices to mislead banking authorities.

The third accused, Vibhaan Mishra, was in direct contact with the cyber fraudsters and was tasked with arranging people to open bank accounts for laundering illegally obtained funds. He introduced Vishwakarma to Sawant and facilitated their partnership.

Through this collaboration, over four to five dozen fake bank accounts were opened without proper verification, with Vishwakarma allegedly charging R25,000 per account. These accounts were then handed over to cybercrime gangs operating across India for fraudulent transactions.

Police say Vishwakarma was also in contact with a kingpin of a cyber fraud syndicate, through whom he first met Mishra. Mishra acted as the middleman, while Sawant supplied the fake companies and bank accounts.

Ongoing investigation

A senior officer from the North Cyber Police stated, “The accused were operating a well-coordinated racket, exploiting loopholes in account verification processes. This is the first time we have caught a bank employee who actively helped fraudsters open accounts. The scale of fake documentation and the use of legitimate banking channels to facilitate fraud is staggering. Apart from Vishwakarma, more than 22 employees from different nationalised and multinational banks are on our radar for verifying and opening fake bank accounts under bogus company names.” The arrested accused are in police custody till May 16. Further investigation is underway.

Three
No. of accused arrested so far in the scam

This article first appeared on Mid Day