The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out search operations at 11 locations across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Dehradun in connection with
a Rs 260 crore global cyber fraud involving cryptocurrency and hawala networks. The searches were conducted as part of a money laundering probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following FIRs filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Delhi Police. According to the ED, the fraudsters targeted both Indian and foreign nationals by posing as police officers and investigators. They allegedly threatened victims with arrest to extort money. In other instances, they impersonated customer service agents from tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon to deceive people. The extorted money was then converted into cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoins, which were stored in multiple digital wallets. Further investigation revealed that the accused had accumulated around Rs 260 crore through these fraudulent means. Officials said the Bitcoins were later converted into USDTs (a type of stablecoin) and liquidated into cash through hawala operators based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
