Delhi Police arrests key mule account supplier in Rs 24 lakh online trading scam

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) A 26-year-old man accused of supplying mule bank accounts across the country for laundering money has been arrested in connection with an online trading scam in which a Delhi resident was duped of over Rs 24 lakh, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Satyam Kulshretha alias Sam, a resident of Agra, was nabbed from Sector 11 in Gurugram after a sustained technical surveillance operation, they said.

Satyam is a graduate with a B.Sc. degree from Agra University.

"Analysis of his phones revealed chats with more than 50 agents across India engaged in procuring mule bank accounts. Police believe he acted as a key link in a larger network that facilitated online scams by providing a constant supply of accounts for laundering funds," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

After suffering losses in a tiffin service business, Sam allegedly began supplying mule accounts to online scammers. He was introduced to the operation by a school friend, Kunal, and soon created social media profiles under the fake name Sam, posing as a representative of a Chinese online gaming company.

He lured individuals by promising commissions — 3.5 per cent on gaming transactions and 4.5 per cent on stock transactions — and collected bank accounts from them, which were then passed on to fraudsters, the police said.

The investigation began after a complainant, identified as Goel, reported that he had lost Rs 24,49,304 in an online investment fraud, the DCP said.

"In November 2024, the complainant came into contact with a woman identifying herself as Neha Sharma on a friendship website. Claiming to be a resident of Gurugram, she lured him into investing through a fake trading platform named Spreadex Global Ltd, and communicated with him over WhatsApp and Telegram," he added.

Believing her promises of high returns, the complainant initially transferred Rs 8 lakh on January 15. The app soon began displaying "artificial profits" of Rs 1 lakh within 10 days, which induced him to make further investments of Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh, taking the total to Rs 24.49 lakh.

"However, when he tried to withdraw his investment, the app demanded an additional Rs 7.5 lakh as a processing fee. When he refused, Neha stopped responding and deactivated her accounts," the DCP said.

A case was registered at Cyber Police Station in Shahdara under relevant sections of the BNS. The police collected data from banks, social media platforms and other platforms to track the money trail.

During investigation, the police found that the cheated amount had been siphoned off into several accounts. One of the mule account holders disclosed that he had handed over his account credentials, ATM card and SIM card to a person known as Sam, who had contacted him through an online platform.

Police mounted technical surveillance on Sam, who was eventually tracked to Gurugram and detained on August 29. On interrogation, he was arrested and his two mobile phones were seized.

His father works as a security guard and his mother is a homemaker.

Further investigation is underway and more arrests are likely, the police said. PTI SSJ SSJ KSS KSS