Gujarat Man Arrested in Rs 10 Crore Cross-Border Cryptocurrency Fraud Operation Linked to Pakistan

A Surat resident has been apprehended for allegedly assisting a cybercriminal network in transferring Rs 10 crore to a cryptocurrency wallet based in Pakistan, as confirmed by officials on Saturday.

The Gujarat police's CID-Crime division took Chetan Gangani into custody as part of their ongoing investigation into 'mule' bank accounts that cybercriminals use to launder illegal proceeds, according to a statement from the Cyber Centre of Excellence.

Investigators revealed that Gangani was connected to six individuals who were arrested on November 3 from various Gujarat districts including Morbi, Surendranagar, Surat, and Amreli. These suspects allegedly channeled approximately Rs 200 crore to Dubai-based cybercriminals using nearly 100 mule accounts.

Officials define a mule account as a bank account utilized by criminals for receiving, transferring, or laundering illicit funds, sometimes with the account holder's knowledge and sometimes without it.

The release stated that Gangani assisted the previously arrested cyber gang members in converting Rs 10 crore into USDT (Tether) cryptocurrency before transferring it to a Pakistan-based wallet through his "BitGet crypto wallet" over a four-month period.

For his services, Gangani reportedly received a commission of 0.10 percent on each USDT transaction. Police have not disclosed the total amount he earned from these commissions.

According to police investigations, the six previously arrested individuals had provided 100 mule accounts to cybercriminals across Gujarat. These accounts were linked to 386 criminal cases throughout India, including digital arrests, task frauds, investment schemes, loan scams, and part-time job frauds.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced on Saturday that the CID-Crime had successfully dismantled a "major cross-border cybercrime network."

In a statement on social platform X, Sanghavi declared, "In a major breakthrough, the Gujarat Cyber Crime Center of Excellence has dismantled a large-scale 'Mule Account' network operating across multiple districts Morbi, Surendranagar, Surat, and Savarkundla with direct financial links traced to Pakistan."

Sanghavi, who oversees the home portfolio, explained that the cyber crime team "meticulously tracked the money trail" through seven layers, from initial Indian accounts to cryptocurrency (USDT) transactions.

"The probe revealed transfer of Rs 10 crore to a Pakistani Binance USDT account, which has cumulatively received over Rs 25 crore from Indian accounts and this gang being one of the major sources," he added.