The Coimbatore District (Rural) cybercrime police have arrested a youth hailing from Salem who opened three new bank accounts for persons involved in online fraud. A. Sakthivel (25) of Karunya Nagar at Kitchipalayam in Salem was arrested on Saturday.
The police said Sakthivel, who completed B.E. mechanical engineering, was arrested during the investigation of a complaint lodged by a 41-year-old woman from Coimbatore.
The woman, a resident of Vilankurichi, has been working as a physiotherapist. A stranger, who introduced himself as a representative from a Mumbai-based firm, offered her a part-time job through WhatsApp on July 29, 2023. After being given certain tasks initially, the woman was asked to join a Telegram group. Later, she was offered high returns for investments.
The police said the woman transferred a total of ₹64,34,582 to 10 bank accounts through multiple transactions from July 29 to August 14, 2023. She lodged a complaint with the police after she lost the money.
The investigation by the cybercrime police revealed that bank accounts opened by Sakthivel were among the multiple accounts to which the defrauded amount was transferred. Investigators found that Sakthivel opened three bank accounts a few months ago for which he was paid ₹33,000 by one Narsingh Ram, who claimed to be hailing from Bihar.
The fraudsters had made several victims transact a total of ₹87 lakh to the accounts opened by Sakthivel. The police, with the assistance of banks concerned, have frozen ₹40,76,007.
