21 Held from Telangana for turning Scam Money into Crypto

As many as 21 persons were arrested in Telangana state of India for allegedly being involved in scamming victims and then converting the money into cryptocurrencies. According to Telangana Police’s Cyber Security Bureau (TCSB), the accused persons were arrested from across the state in an operation conducted last week.

As per a report in The Times of India, the accused persons had been operating in two separate groups, wherein they used different opus operandi to first extort money from victims and then convert them into cryptocurrencies.

“Of the accused, 13 used their bank accounts to withdraw the proceeds of cybercrime. They have withdrawn 8.20 crore through cheques and handed them over to their next-level agents. The remaining eight accused were the next-level agents who were collecting the withdrawn money and transferring the same to their partner who was operating from foreign countries through cryptocurrency”, said Shikha Goel, Cyber Security Bureau Director General, TCSB, while speaking to TOI.

As reported by TOI, The cryptocurrency wallets were linked to Dubai, and an investigation was being conducted into the persons operating them. Police have arrested 21 accused——Ramesh Kumar, Haroon Khan, Shaikh Mateen, Mirza Hyder, Mohammed Dastagir Farhan, Noor Jahan, Mujahid Hussain, Rahamatullah, and 13 others—from various parts of the state.