Ahmedabad, Sep 25 (IANS) : The CBI arrested the key accused in a transnational cyber-enabled financial fraud case involving illegal call centres in Ahmedabad that defrauded US nationals of more than $7.21 million, an official said on Friday.
Ankit Satishchandra Pandey was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on September 23 in connection with a case registered on September 8 against the accused and unknown others, the CBI said.
The case pertains to a large-scale, transnational, cyber-enabled financial fraud syndicate allegedly operating through illegal call centres in Ahmedabad since 2024.
The accused, in criminal conspiracy with each other and unknown associates, impersonated officers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US Attorney, Critical Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal agencies, falsely informing the victims through VoIP communications that their identities were used by someone to access child pornography through their computer systems, the CBI said.
Thereafter, the accused induced the victims to withdraw their funds from the bank accounts, purchase gold, and hand over the same to courier persons engaged by them in the US, the CBI said in a statement.
After registering the case, the CBI conducted extensive searches at Ahmedabad locations associated with the accused and seized incriminating electronic devices containing digital evidence.
The CBI arrested the accused, who was instrumental in establishing and operating the illegal call centre, following an extensive investigation involving digital tracking of the culprits.
The CBI earlier unearthed a similar gang targeting US nationals from Mumbai and Pune last year and arrested three accused.
The syndicate defrauded foreign nationals, particularly US citizens, through a network of impersonation, phishing calls, and financial deception. The illegal operation, active since January 2025, used spoofed VoIP calls originating from an unlawful call centre in Pune.
The accused allegedly impersonated officials from US agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and even the Indian missions. Victims were threatened with legal consequences and coerced into making payments ranging from $500 to $3,000 via gift cards or cryptocurrency transfers.
Investigations revealed that the fraudulent operation generated illegal proceeds estimated between Rs 3 and Rs 4 crore per month. The money was laundered using mule accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and hawala networks.
The call centre staff, mostly housed across multiple residential flats in Pune, were paid in cash funnelled through hawala channels from within India and abroad, including the US, as well as from Maharashtra and Gujarat, the CBI said.
