The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested two individuals in Mumbai on Sunday, believed to be key figures in a complex cyber-fraud scheme. This network, which spans various sectors including commodity trading, travel, and foreign exchange, has reportedly defrauded over 330 victims. The authorities have registered 163 first information reports (FIRs) related to this case, with fraudulent banking transactions exceeding ₹27,850 crore.
The accused, identified as Fahim Sayed and Naim Sayyed, were arrested on Sunday, by the ED’s Panaji zonal office in connection with a case where a woman victim from Goa alleged that she was coerced by “digital arrest” into transferring ₹ 2,60 crore between May 21, 2025, and June 06, 2026, into accounts falsely described to her as “secret supervision accounts”.
“The victim’s funds were routed within hours through a first layer of dormant and newly-opened accounts and fragmented across more than four hundred beneficiary accounts. The trail led to an interconnected network of commodity, trading, travel and forex entities which have together undertaken banking transactions exceeding Rs. 27,850 crore and deposited approximately Rs. 2,904 crore in cash, including Rs. 584.70 crore through 61,448 Bulk Note Acceptance Machine transactions at multiple locations,” ED said in a statement. “Investigation has established that the accounts of these entities are the subject of 330 victim complaints and 163 First Information Reports across 20 States and Union Territories, involving an aggregate reported loss of Rs. 417.49 crore. In 101 of those complaints, the money of a single victim was routed into two or more entities of the same network in the course of one and the same fraud,” ED also said.
