Foreign Nationals Duped of ₹125 Crore: Cyber Racket Busted, 3 Remanded to 4-day CBI custody, 40 Sent to Judicial Custody -

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Foreign Nationals Duped of ₹125 Crore: Cyber Racket Busted, 3 Remanded to 4-day CBI custody, 40 Sent to Judicial Custody

A Delhi court on Saturday sent three people to four-day CBI custody. They are accused of allegedly committing an international cybercrime. Foreign nationals were targeted and defrauded. Forty others allegedly involved in the crime were sent to judicial custody till August 9.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Nishant Garg, while sending the three persons to CBI custody, said, “As far as the accused Dhruv Khattar, Dhairya Khattar, and Tushar Arora are concerned, their custodial interrogation is necessary to unearth the conspiracy and gather evidence.”

Racket Used To Cheat American Citizens by Posing as Microsoft Officials

According to the CBI, the accused persons used to run illegal call centers from New Delhi and adjoining areas. They used to cheat American citizens by posing as Microsoft officials. The central investigating agency also alleged that transactions worth US $ 15 million (over ₹125 crore) were involved in the case.

US Citizen Duped of $6.5 Million

The agency alleged that on November 24, 2022, a US citizen named Michelle Finch was duped of $6.5 million (over Rs 54 crore). According to the CBI, one of the accused, posing as a Microsoft employee, got Finch to open two bank accounts in JPMorgan Chase Bank and Citibank and transferred US$6.5 million (over Rs 54 crore) to 16 bank accounts in Hong Kong.

Targeted Through Pop-Up

It all started when Finch got a pop-up with a phone number on his computer screen. On contacting the phone number, a person posing as Microsoft tech support informed him that his identity had been hacked.

Illegal calls from areas connected to five IP addresses in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon

The CBI also alleged that the accused persons were in touch with each other using 46 mobile numbers of different Indian service providers through the Signal messaging app. The agency further alleged that illegal calls were made from areas connected to five IP addresses in New Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon.

Arora’s Crucial Role

Seeking seven-day custody of Dhruv, Dhairya, and Arora, the CBI said that “crucial evidence directly linking the accused persons to the crime has been recovered from the personal vehicle of accused Dhairya.” Arora worked as a cloud support engineer at the call center and “played a very crucial role in perpetrating the international cybercrime,” the agency said.

Investigation at the Starting and Crucial Stage

Seeking judicial custody of the other 40 persons, the CBI argued that the investigation was at a very preliminary and crucial stage and it needed to trace the flow of proceeds of crime as well as the whereabouts of other accused.

40 Accused Sent to Judicial Custody

In a packed room of the Rouse Avenue court, the lawyers of the accused argued that they were not given a copy of the FIR or the remand application. They also argued that the accused were not informed about the grounds of arrest.

“In view of the international nature and gravity of the crime, it appears that the investigation is at a very preliminary stage. The accused need to be sent to judicial custody to prevent them from tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses, repeating the crime and for a speedy and fair investigation,” ACJM Garg said while sending the 40 accused to judicial custody and rejecting the arguments of their lawyers.

About The Author:

Yogesh Naager is a content marketer who specializes in the cybersecurity and B2B space. Besides writing for the News4Hackers blogs, he also writes for brands including Craw Security, Bytecode Security, and NASSCOM.

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