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The BPO-like set up in Narayangaon, the place where operations of the Hanuman Book and Lotus 365 betting apps were being held, used over 450 bank accounts as ‘money mule accounts’ that were opened in the names of individuals, most of whom may have been unaware of their existence.
A mule account refers to an account that is used to receive and transfer funds acquired illegally on behalf of others.
Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural), said at a press conference in Pune, that the local crime branch unearthed an elaborate BPO-like set up having 96 employees in the multi-storey building in Narayangaon’s Vision Galaxy Complex.
“The money of app users was being received in the mule accounts and winning were also being transferred to winners’ accounts. It was a big set up and we have seized 45 laptops, 89 mobiles, 101 personal phones of employees and 452 bank passbooks from the location,” said Deshmukh.
He said police also found numerous ‘bank account kits’ in the name of individuals, which indicated that the accounts were opened in the names of third-party individuals without their knowledge, and that their passbooks, debit cards, cheque books were received by BPO operators who used them as ‘mule accounts’.
“We suspect that apart from opening mule accounts by using documents obtained without authorisation, they must have obtained SIM cards in a similar fashion to make phone calls, chats, and transactions,” said Deshmukh.
Police have obtained remand for five individuals who were in managerial roles and have worked for the apps in the past as well. They have been identified as Kunal Bhat, Samir Pathan, Rashid Sharifulla, Amjad Khan and Yash Chauhan.
