2 brothers from Patan arrested for laundering ₹247 cr via mule accounts linked to Chinese cyber gang

The Gujarat State Cyber Crime Cell arrested two brothers from Patan for allegedly facilitating money laundering of over ₹247 crore through mule bank accounts connected to a Chinese cyber fraud syndicate.

According to officials, the accused identified as Dilip Chaudhary and Shailesh Chaudhary, residents of Kasra village in Banaskantha’s Kankrej taluka, were allegedly renting and selling bank accounts to cyber fraudsters operating from Cambodia and Myanmar.

A mule account is a bank account used to launder illegally obtained money by receiving and transferring it, often involving a money mule - someone who receives and moves money that came from victims of fraud -  either tricked or knowingly complicit.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused opened multiple mule accounts using documents of underprivileged and unemployed individuals, offering them small sums in return for their chequebooks, ATM cards, and net banking credentials. The account details were then sold through Telegram groups to fraudsters linked with the Chinese gang.

Officials said the money through frauds was received in these accounts, withdrawn online or via ATMs, and then transferred to Dubai.

The two brothers are believed to have supplied a large number of mule accounts, through which transactions worth ₹247 crore were routed.

So far, 542 complaints have been registered across India, including 70 in Gujarat. The investigation also found that the Chinese gang used third-party messaging systems to access OTPs, thereby avoiding direct contact with the original account holders and making the fraudulent transfers easier.

The State Cyber Crime Cell is currently interrogating both accused.