Mumbai police arrest 12 in ₹500 crore cyber fraud linked to international syndicate
The Mumbai police crime branch on Thursday arrested 12 men in connection with a large-scale cyber fraud operation allegedly involving transactions of ₹500 crore over the past six to eight months. The accused are believed to have operated from a rented villa in Goa, with links to an international syndicate based in Dubai, according to officials.
The police said that bank accounts were allegedly opened in Mumbai, and the related banking material was physically transported to Goa by bus. The accounts were then used to process deposits, withdrawals, and transfers between accounts. The accused operated from a two-storey villa near Calangute beach in Goa, identified as 'Case De Nikole Villa'.
Raj Tilak Roshan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection), said the arrested men, aged between 20 and 25, were mostly recruited from Ahmedabad and Rajkot in Gujarat. They reportedly received 10 to 15 days of training before being deployed at the villa.
Investigators said the group allegedly used websites such as '100 Panel' and 'Rudra' to process funds linked to online gaming and cyber fraud, including digital arrest scams. The transactions were carried out through user accounts on laptops and mobile phones, facilitating cash withdrawals and deposits, with the money routed into bank accounts under their control.
The police also recovered a ledger documenting the transactions. The accused were reportedly paid a monthly salary of ₹30,000, along with an additional 3% commission on the processed amounts.
A total of 15 laptops, 128 ATM cards, 89 mobile phones, 76 SIM cards, 22 chequebooks, 77 passbooks, 6 routers, 3 keyboards, and 2 mice were seized from the premises.
According to the police, between ₹15 crore and ₹100 crore has either been frozen or is in the process of being frozen. Some of the seized bank accounts had 83 complaints of cyber fraud registered from various parts of the country through the Cyber Control Room helpline number 1930.
Earlier, the case was registered and investigated by the Pydhonie Police Station. The police have stated that they are investigating the upper-level links of the accused and will continue to probe the sources of the bank accounts and the origin of the laptops.
The accused have been produced before a local court and remanded to police custody until August 11, 2026.
