First bank account rental fraud busted in Shivamogga; driver jailed

Shivamogga: In the first case of its kind in the district, Shivamogga police have arrested a car driver for illegally renting bank accounts and using them to transfer huge sums of cybercrime money. The accused, Sharath (29), a resident of Tunganagar, has been remanded to jail.

Police said Sharath used a simple but dangerous method to help cyber criminals. He identified people who were willing to lend their bank accounts for money. He promised them a monthly rent of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 and sometimes paid higher commissions depending on the volume of transactions.

Over a period of time, he managed to collect 19 bank accounts from different individuals in Shivamogga. The fraud was exposed when one such account holder, a small tea shop owner, noticed that his bank account had been frozen without warning.

When he contacted the bank, officials informed him that suspicious and large-scale transactions had taken place in his account. Realising that something was wrong, he approached the CEN police and filed a complaint.

During the investigation, police found that Sharath was acting as a middleman for an organised cybercrime syndicate. Money cheated from victims across India was being routed through these rented accounts. Sharath would then withdraw the amount and transfer it to the accounts of the main fraudsters after taking his share.

Superintendent of Police Nikhil B explained the modus operandi. “Sharath was running what is known as mule accounts. He was using accounts belonging to others to move illegal money. In just six months, more than Rs 55 crore was transferred through these accounts,” he said.

Police revealed that 96 bank accounts across the country were linked to this network, of which 11 were from Shivamogga district. Nearly Rs 9 crore had been moved through local accounts alone. Sharath allegedly used ATMs, cheques and online transfers to withdraw the money and even converted part of it into cryptocurrency.

From his possession, police have recovered 18 passbooks, 7 cheque books, 25 ATM cards, two QR code scanners and two mobile phones. Officials believe that Sharath was only a small player in a much bigger pan-India cyber fraud ring.

“Even without high education or technical knowledge, people are getting involved in cybercrime. This arrest should serve as a warning to those who rent out their bank accounts,” the SP cautioned.

Further investigation is continuing to identify other accused involved in the racket and to trace the masterminds operating behind the scenes.

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