Six in CBI net for cheating US nationals of over $8.5 million

The CBI unearthed a sophisticated cybercrime network that allegedly duped over 8.5 million USD from US nationals using crypto wallets and foreign bank accounts, with the arrest of six key accused, officials said on Friday.

The agency arrested Shubham Singh, Daltanlian, George T Zamlianlal, L Seiminlen Haokip, Mangkholun and Robert Thangkhankhual in connection with the fraud.

Based on the inputs from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CBI teams began a crackdown in Noida, where the six suspects were intercepted red-handed while swindling US citizens.

The teams also conducted searches in Delhi and Kolkata, resulting in the total seizure of Rs 1.88 crore in cash, 34 electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives and hard disks, and incriminating documents related to the crime, officials said.

From 2022 to 2025, the accused operated under pseudonymous identities of US Government officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Social Security Administration (SSA), a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the statement, the accused conspired to target US citizens by threatening them that their social security numbers (SSN) had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries and that all their assets would be frozen.

Claiming that their funds faced imminent risk, the accused coerced the victims into remitting USD 8.5 million over a period of three years to crypto currency wallets and overseas bank accounts under their control, the spokesperson added.

“During searches conducted by the CBI on Wednesday and Thursday, it was found that this transnational cyber-enabled financial crime network was channeling the proceeds of crime through virtual assets and bank transfers,” the spokesperson said.

A probe is underway to unravel the proceeds of the crime, broader network and international leads.