CHENNAI: The East Zone cyber crime wing of Greater Chennai Police apprehended a 40-year-old man from Vikravandi on Friday for his alleged involvement in two separate cyber fraud cases registered in the city. According to the police, the victims lost over Rs 22 lakh in these cases.
The arrested person, M Kalaiyarasan of Vellaiyampattu, facilitated the cyber fraudsters by allowing his bank accounts to be used for transactions of fraudulent money.
In the first case, the complainant, Sajith, stated that Rs 17.75 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account, while in another case, the complainant, Chitra, was scammed of Rs 4.58 lakh. Both of them clicked a link they received through WhatsApp about online trading, which led to them being conned.
During the investigations, cybercrime officials discovered that Rs 10.75 lakh from Sajith's case and Rs 3 lakh from Chithra's case were deposited into the same bank account belonging to the arrested suspect Kalaiyarasan.
After police secured him, Kalaiyarasan told the cops that a man he met at a tea stall a year ago persuaded him to open the bank account under the pretext of securing a bank loan, promising future monetary benefits. However, investigators established that Kalaiyarasan's bank account was sold to cyber criminals and used to launder defrauded money.
The police recovered a mobile phone, eight SIM cards, two bank passbooks, a chequebook, and nine debit cards from his possession.
The authorities are currently tracking down the key suspects who used Kalaiyarasan's account for cyber fraud.