SRINAGAR: A transnational online investment fraud allegedly masterminded by a Haryana-based doctor has been busted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, with investigators tracing transactions worth Rs 209 crore so far and indicating the total scam amount could eventually cross Rs 400 crore.
Nine people, including the alleged kingpin Ekant Yogdutt alias “Dr Morphine”, have been arrested in connection with the racket. Yogdutt, a resident of Hisar in Haryana, was apprehended on February 10 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport while returning from China, police said.
The case surfaced after a complaint was lodged in Ganderbal district alleging identity theft and cheating by a group of online fraudsters. Acting on the complaint, the district police constituted a Special Investigation Team under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police Khalil Poswal to probe what officials described as a highly sophisticated and layered financial fraud network.
According to investigators, the accused operated fake online investment platforms advertised through social media and search engines, including websites such as paisavault.com. Victims were lured with promises of high returns through cryptocurrency and coin trading schemes. Once investments were made, the funds were allegedly diverted into local bank accounts in districts including Budgam, Srinagar, Ganderbal and Baramulla before being transferred outside Jammu and Kashmir through multiple layers to obscure the trail.
Police said they have identified 835 bank accounts linked to the racket and verified transactions in 290 of them amounting to Rs 209 crore. Officials believe the final figure could exceed Rs 400 crore once full verification is complete.
At the core of the operation were so-called mule accounts. A mule account is a bank account used by criminals to receive, transfer or launder illicit funds, often controlled by individuals who are paid small commissions to hand over their account details. Such accounts help mask the origin of stolen money and complicate the task of tracing it.
In this case, police allege that associates of Yogdutt acted as “account mobilisers”, approaching Below Poverty Line account holders and persuading them to provide bank accounts and ATM cards in return for monthly payments ranging between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. Investigators also said the involvement of certain bank employees has emerged, with allegations that QR codes linked to these accounts were generated and uploaded onto fake investment platforms.
The fraudsters are believed to have used encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram to circulate fresh QR codes whenever earlier accounts were frozen by cybercrime units. Funds were rapidly shifted across multiple accounts and, in some cases, transferred outside the country to prevent detection.
Police allege that Yogdutt learned cyber fraud techniques while pursuing his MBBS degree in the Philippines and later developed links with Chinese nationals. He is said to have coordinated the network’s operations while maintaining connections abroad.
The bust comes amid a wider crackdown on mule accounts in Jammu and Kashmir. Security agencies have frozen more than 8,000 such accounts in the past three years, describing them as a critical link in global scam networks. Officials have warned that even if account holders do not directly interact with victims, renting out bank accounts for commissions makes them active facilitators of financial crime.
Further investigation is underway to trace the complete money trail and attach properties of the accused. Police have urged the public to remain cautious of online platforms promising unusually high returns and warned against sharing bank credentials or renting out accounts for short-term monetary gain.
