Private firm's bank account used by cyber criminals for transactions in 75 cases; director arrested

Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) A director of a private firm, whose bank account was found to have been used in at least 75 cases of online fraud to circulate the proceedings of crime, has been arrested by the cyber wing of the Mumbai police's crime branch, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused was identified as Bhavik Mohan Pethana, a resident of Siddharh Nagar, Goregaon.

Cyber fraudsters duped a person of Rs 4.12 crore between August 20 to September 4 by persuading him to `invest' in stock market, the official said.

During investigation, the South Region Cyber Police led by senior inspector Nandkumar Gopale found that the money had been transferred to various bank accounts.

Riyaz Thange (22), a resident of Mumbra in Thane district, was arrested on September 16 as one of the accounts was found to be in his name.

Police also found that another such account with two transactions of Rs 75 lakh each was in the name of Ascent IT Service Ltd, having its office at West Bengal, and Bhavik Pethna and Pranab De Sarkar were the directors of the firm.

Cyber Police tracked Pethna in Goregaon and arrested him on Monday, the official said.

Probe found that this account had been used to receive money in as many as 74 past cases registered on the National Cyber Crime Portal, he said. PTI DC KRK