A 23-year-old MBBS student from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore was arrested for allegedly transferring ₹8 lakh in cyber fraud money to a gang of Chinese youths by converting it into cryptocurrency, PTI reported citing police on Wednesday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rajesh Kumar Tripathi informed reporters that the accused identified as Vikram Vishnoi was arrested after evidence connected him to a case of defrauding a city-based software engineer of ₹1.35 lakh by placing him under “digital arrest”.
More details on the fraud
Vishnoi, a native of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, is a third-year MBBS student at the Government Medical College in Alibag, Maharashtra, according to the police.
DCP Rajesh Kumar Tripathi revealed during Vishnoi’s interrogation that he provided bank accounts to a gang on a commission basis for cyber fraud. He was also connected to five Chinese youths via a group on the Telegram messaging app.
“We discovered that Vishnoi converted the cyber fraud money deposited in Indian bank accounts into cryptocurrency and transferred it to the Chinese gang. We are thoroughly investigating the gang’s role in cybercrimes in India,” said Tripathi.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotia stated that Vishnoi allegedly used the cryptocurrency exchange Binance to convert the fraud money and sent it via a QR code to the crypto wallet of a Chinese youth known by the alias “TLX.”
Dandotia further added, “Vishnoi has so far converted approximately ₹8 lakh into cryptocurrency and transferred it to the Chinese crypto wallet of ‘TLX’.”
The accused reportedly communicated with the Chinese youth using a chatbot that enabled mutual translation between English and Chinese. To probe the transfer of fraud money to the Chinese gang, Indore police have contacted Telegram and Binance via email to request further information.
Recently the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took action against a multi-crore fraud involving the HPZ Token app and online gaming and betting platforms, which allegedly duped investors by promising to double their investments.
On December 10, the ED froze assets worth ₹12.5 crore, identified as Proceeds of Crime (POC), including bank balances, fixed deposits, and mutual funds, as part of its money-laundering investigation.
Searches were conducted at 11 residential and commercial premises connected to key suspects in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Gurugram, and Delhi. During the raids, the agency seized incriminating documents and digital devices, according to ED sources.