Cyber fraud syndicate with ‘Chinese’ links busted

In a major breakthrough against financial fraud, the Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police Crime Branch has dismantled a multi-state cyber syndicate allegedly operating through shell companies and cryptocurrency channels with suspected Chinese links.

The crackdown began after a 61-year-old senior citizen lodged an online complaint stating he had been duped of Rs 33.10 lakh in an investment scam.

During the probe following registration of FIR, investigators discovered that the cheated funds were routed through multiple beneficiary accounts of a fictitious company, BELCREST India Pvt Ltd, created solely for laundering stolen money. Technical analysis of transactions revealed that Rs 10.38 lakh from the victim’s money had passed through BELCREST-linked accounts.

The Crime Branch arrested Lakshay, a Delhi resident, on November 19, who allegedly confessed to opening BELCREST using forged credentials and providing bank kits and SIM cards to co-accused in return for Rs 20,000 a month. His arrest led officers to focus on Shubham, believed to be a key operator in the syndicate.

A specially assigned team led by Inspector Ashok, SI Bhagyashri and HC Dinesh tracked Shubham for weeks across Delhi-NCR as he repeatedly switched SIM cards to evade detection. He was eventually arrested from Tilak Nagar on December 6.

The police recovered a laptop, two mobile phones, five cheque books and six debit cards from him. Shubham’s interrogation revealed that he was working under the direction of a handler who provided layered bank accounts of shell firms such as CSP24SEVEN Technologies, Levin Fintech, EKO

India, Rinova Pvt Ltd, Money Wave Pvt Ltd, Easy Mudra Pvt Ltd, and Lavi Software & Technology Pvt Ltd.

According to the police, substantial proceeds of crime were converted into USDT cryptocurrency, after which the USDT was repeatedly sold to an entity identified as ‘Kool Pay’, described as a Chinese-controlled organisation.

Investigators say the syndicate created a “circular flow” of money to make tracing difficult. Funds from first-layer beneficiary accounts were transferred into BELCREST accounts, which were then routed through successive dummy firms and used to purchase USDT. The funds were then sent back to ‘Kool Pay’ and reinvested into repeated scam cycles.

The police said Shubham deliberately destroyed BELCREST cheque books and snapped the SIM card registered to the firm after learning of Lakshay’s arrest. The handset used with the discarded SIM has been recovered.