The Delhi Police on Friday laid hands on a man from Punjab, who executed a fraud involving an amount of Rs 1.6 crore in the name of 50 persons belonging to different states, police reported on Saturday. As per police, the culprit misused the Aadhar Card and PAN card details of 50 unsuspecting people and secured a loan of Rs 1.6 crore. 

The police believe the arrested accused is part of a larger identity theft syndicate which manipulated Aadhar records, exploited stolen personal information and channeled the illicit proceeds by means of multiple bank accounts.

Identity of accused, case details

Police said the accused has been identified as Ajay Kumar, who fell into their dragnet on Friday after an extensive probe. They added that they also seized a cell phone from his possession, through which he used to coordinate and execute the fraudulent operations. 

The case came to light after a man approached Delhi Police. He told the cops he had been receiving repeated calls from a loan recovery agent demanding payment of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) for a personal loan of Rs 4.5 lakh, which he said he had never applied for, or received. 

Acting on the complaint, the cops discovered that the loan had fraudulently been obtained in his name by means of his PAN details. Delving into the case further, they also learnt that the cell phone number linked to his Aadhar card had been changed without his knowledge, paving the way for the cyber-cons to complete the loan application process and bypass authentication checks. 

Probe leads cops to accused

Upon technical surveillance and human intelligence, the probe led the cops to a bank account allegedly being operated by Kumar, where the fraudulently-obtained proceeds had been transferred. A senior police officer said when Kumar’s cell phone was subjected to a forensic examination, it revealed exchanges of the complainant's personal information with other members of the cyber fraud syndicate before the loan was processed, strengthening the case against him. 

Police now probing identity theft syndicate

During sustained interrogation, Kumar told the police he was part of an organised network which routed fraudulently-obtained money through bank accounts belonging to people who permitted their bank accounts to be used in exchange for a commission. 

As per police, the racket first altered the victims’ Aadhar-linked cell phone numbers without their consent. Following this, they allegedly used their Aadhar and PAN details to obtain loans from private non-banking financial companies. (NBFCs). 

So far, the investigating police personnel have identified 50 people who were duped by means of the aforementioned modus-operandi, saying that loan amounts totaling Rs 1.6 crore had been secured fraudulently. 

Wider network under scanner

Delhi Police’s senior officials said they are persevering in efforts to identify and apprehend other members of the syndicate, trace additional mule bank accounts and establish the full extent of the fraud. 

As per police, further probe into the syndicate’s operations is underway, while officials are examining digital evidence, as well as financial transactions to identify other potential victims and dismantle the entire racket behind the large-scale fraud.