SLUG: CYBERCRIME GANG
Ahmedabad: The Cyber Crime branch of the city police arrested a 30-year-old Russian national, Anatoliy Mironov, for the alleged ‘digital arrest’ of a senior citizen and defrauding him of Rs 17 lakh.
Mironov, a resident of Orenburg city in Russia, was already in jail in Pune, Maharashtra, in connection with another cyber fraud. “Since Mironov, who entered India on a tourist visa, was behind bars in a similar case of cheating in Pune, the Cyber Crime police took his custody from the jail there through a production warrant and brought him here on Thursday,” said assistant commissioner of police (Cyber Crime) Hardik Makadia.
He said that Mironov was a “gatekeeper” for the cybercrime gang operated by a Chinese national and helped transfer the swindled money into various accounts and convert some of it into cryptocurrency.
Makadia said a “gatekeeper” is a middleman hired by international cybercriminals to watch over individuals whose bank accounts are hired to receive proceeds of crime and help transfer those funds into the gang’s bank accounts.
Mironov came to India in 2015 on a tourist visa and has since visited the country frequently. He joined the gang of cyber fraudsters in January 2024 and was also instrumental in converting stolen money into cryptocurrency, which ultimately reached his Chinese boss, known as Max, said Makadia.
According to cops from the Cyber Crime branch, the gang, impersonating customs inspectors and police officers, threatened victims with legal action, claiming discovery of drugs and expired passports in parcels.
In the present case, they fraudulently obtained Rs 17 lakh through deceptive online schemes involving counterfeit ATM cards and MD drugs. The investigation commenced when a local businessman approached the Cyber Crime branch in Oct with a complaint that individuals claiming to be customs and police officials had placed him under ‘digital arrest’ and extracted Rs 17 lakh. The fraudsters claimed they intercepted a parcel in his name containing illegal items.
Makadia explained that the victim transferred Rs 17 lakh to Mehfooz Alam Shah’s account, a resident of Gomtipur. Nadim Pathan, another Gomtipur resident connected to the gang, convinced Shah to lease his account for this purpose. Their arrests led investigators to Mironov.
According to Makadia, after the funds transfer, Mironov met Shah and Pathan at a Mumbai hotel, where he redirected the money to various accounts and cryptocurrency as instructed by his Chinese boss. Other account holders and agents also gathered at the hotel.
Makadia said that Mironov supervised agents and account holders whilst executing transactions as directed by overseas gang leaders. Following Shah and Pathan’s arrests, investigators discovered photographs of Mironov and another Russian national meeting them in Malaysia, leading to Mironov’s arrest by the Maharashtra police.
Box: Mironov nabbed in Pune for Rs 71L cyberfraud
Ahmedabad: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber police in Pune arrested Anatoliy Mironov and an associate in Dec last year for swindling Rs 71 lakh from a software engineer through a stock market investment scheme. The software professional clicked on a stock market investment advertisement on Instagram, subsequently joining a WhatsApp group that claimed to provide privileged stock and IPO information. Based on the group’s assurances, he invested Rs 71 lakh via a deceptive website.
The investigation team was able to locate Rs 28 lakh of the stolen funds in a Goa-based private bank account. The account’s owner disclosed sharing his banking credentials with Shreyas Sanjay Mane (22), from Pune’s Kothrud locality. Additional investigation resulted in the arrest of Mironov, who was staying in Mandrem, Goa.
Authorities identified Mironov as the key suspect who attracted victims online by guaranteeing substantial returns on stock investment. Mane provided support by supplying bank account information for the transactions. The authorities apprehended both individuals on Dec 9, 2024, and interrogated them in custody until Dec 15.
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