Bengal industrialist, family members under scanner for Rs 300 crore cybercrime

Kolkata, Nov 10 (IANS) An industrialist has been under the scanner of the Bengal Police in a cybercrime case of Rs 300 crore, said sources on Monday, adding that over a thousand people across the state and the country were victims of fraud through multiple methods, including fake investment apps.

The police have received complaints that a part of the money from the fraud was transferred through the bank accounts of the industrialist, his company and family members in Kolkata.

Recently, an investigation was launched into this. The police are verifying the information that has come to light before taking any concrete action.

A police official said that detectives also went to the industrialist's house in the city for investigation purposes. The police are also questioning some of the industrialist's family members and some officials of his company regarding the allegations.

Sources said the detectives came to know that cyber fraud was committed using social media in the name of investment, sometimes by threatening to arrest people in the name of digital arrest and through various other methods. More than a thousand people in this state and the country have fallen into the trap of cyber fraudsters, and hundreds of crores of rupees earned through fraud have gone to the accounts of several companies.

According to the police, cyber fraudsters send huge amounts of money to a few specific accounts, which are transferred to other accounts. It is alleged that these 'other' accounts were created in the name of fake companies.

The detectives also received information that a part of the crime proceeds was smuggled abroad through cryptocurrency. The police claimed that during this investigation, they found the trace of a private organisation.

There are 11 accounts in the name of that organisation and some of its branches. A large number of transactions were found in those 11 accounts. During the investigation, the police alleged that Rs 97 crore was transacted from these 11 bank accounts alone. The police have information that 544 cybercrimes are linked to it across the country. The police are investigating whether the industrialist and his family members and organisations are linked to that money.

The police have further received complaints that money from at least 23 cyber fraud cases has been laundered through the accounts of industrialists and their family members.

Initially, the names of 147 companies came up. Out of these, 73 companies have an address in the Burrabazar area of central Kolkata. The addresses of the remaining offices are in other parts of the city. The detectives alleged that so far, about 1,400 fake companies have been found across the country in the cyber fraud case of Rs 300 crore.

--IANS

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