Rs 70 crore, 2 days: Bengaluru engineering student’s bank account used to launder money; friend who borrowed details absconding

Trusting him, the student handed over his passbook, ATM card, internet banking credentials, and even the Airtel SIM card linked to the account for transaction alerts.

A police officer said, “Based on preliminary findings, the student appeared to be a victim, unaware that his account was being exploited for large-scale financial fraud.”

Soon after, bank representatives arrived at the student’s home, and told him that his account had been flagged for suspicious transactions totalling Rs 7 crore over just two days, money that investigators believe was proceeds of cybercrime.

Banks receive alerts from government agencies about suspicious transactions to help block money-laundering attempts. AS the account was registered in a teenager’s name, it triggered a mandatory physical verification. Investigators also found that the phone number linked to the account had been changed after the student handed it over to Ayush.

The police believe the account was part of a larger laundering network. Ayush is suspected of having sold or lent the account details on Telegram to cybercriminals operating from abroad, who allegedly recruited another person to run the account under the pretext of a work-from-home job.