Mumbai, March 27: The Mumbai police recently arrested a 22-year-old man from Malad for allegedly opening fake bank accounts which were used by fraudsters to deposit money. Officials of Bangur Nagar police said that the accused used to take a commission from the fraudsters in return for opening fake bank accounts.

According to a report in Mid-day, the racket was busted when the not-for-profit government organisation penalised a bank. The incident came to light after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) fined Equitas Small Finance Bank's Malad branch Rs 10.96 lakh for allegedly allowing UPI transactions of crores without any verification. Mumbai Shocker: Man Randomly Dials Numbers, Sends Obscene Videos and Messages on WhatsApp to Over 100 Women; Arrested.

Cops said that thousands of transactions were made to two bank accounts at the Malad branch of Equitas Small Finance Bank within three months. After receiving several complaints about UPI transactions, the NPCI penalised the bank. An officer said that the NPCI received complaints about UPI transactions made to two travel agencies named Sky Bright Travels and Life and Travel.

Soon after receiving complaints, the NPCI froze the bank accounts. After the bank was penalised, Santosh Mhatre, the zonal operations manager conducted an inquiry. During the inquiry, Mhatre learned that the Gumasta license of the two bank accounts was fake. He also found that the two accounts were opened in the name of Rajan Kumar and Amit Balraj, both residents of Haryana. Online Fraud in Mumbai: Andheri Woman's Family Trip to Dubai Gets Spoilt After Fake Website Dupes Her of Rs 6.8 Lakh.

Later, the police arrested the main accused identified as Chandrapraksh Vaishnav, who opened the fake bank accounts. Cops also seized two fake Aadhaar cards from his possession. Cops found that the accused, who hails from Rajasthan's Bhilwara district has been part of the illegal racket of opening fake bank accounts for fraudsters. He was reportedly paid Rs 60,000 for opening a bank account.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2023 02:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).