Nagpur: A major cyber fraud network with links to Nagpur has been busted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), leading to the arrest of three individuals for their involvement in routing ₹3.81 crore through a mule account in Mumbai in a single day. The arrests are part of a broader CBI crackdown on organised cyber crime syndicates operating across India.
The accused have been identified as Sudhir Bhaskar Palande (mule account holder), Yash Thakur (middleman), and Shaurya Sunilkumar Singh (cyber operator and agent). While the mule account was opened in Mumbai, the CBI revealed that Nagpur played a key role in the fraud’s execution.
According to CBI officials, once the money—sourced from multiple cybercrime victims—was deposited into the mule account on July 2, it was rapidly transferred to over 100 other mule accounts in the first laundering layer. Many of these downstream accounts and operatives were traced to Nagpur.
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The probe further exposed that the mule account holder was lodged in Nagpur during the operation, and local agents were instrumental in managing the logistics and fund distribution. Investigators found that Palande and agents based in Nagpur were compensated in cryptocurrency, which was later split among other conspirators.
Significantly, the CBI uncovered a larger conspiracy involving bank officials and middlemen who opened mule accounts by bypassing essential KYC norms and customer due diligence processes. This blatant violation of RBI guidelines and internal banking procedures enabled the fraud network to thrive.
Raids conducted by the Economic Offences Branch of CBI Mumbai led to the seizure of key digital and physical evidence including mobile phones, iPads, bank account opening forms, KYC documents, and transaction records.
The accused have been produced before a Special CBI Court and are currently in judicial custody as the investigation continues to trace more links in the pan-India cybercrime web with roots in Nagpur.
