Sontu was operating 55 tenancy bank accounts

 

 

 

On-line gaming fraudster Sontu alias Ananth Navratan Jain was operating over 55 tenancy bank accounts and investigation revealed that crores of rupees were routed through these bogus bank accounts by the fraudster. The shocking information came to fore during ongoing forensic audits of bank accounts operated for the gaming fraud. A top rank police official said that Sontu had even opened a bank account in the name of a sanitation worker employed for his household work.

 

Transaction details from a total of 55 tenancy banks are being scanned by the police officials with finance experts. Of these, 55 tenancy accounts, one bank account was opened in a bank at Rajkot, Gujarat. A transaction of Rs 1.5 crore was detected through this bank account. Similarly, two tenancy bank accounts in the name of a sanitation worker and a cobbler, both residents of Gondia, also came to fore. Both bank accounts have transactions of lakhs of rupees, said the official, adding that an account of a supervisor at a hawala trader was also operated by Sontu.

 

The police have gathered details of all the 55 bank accounts and started recording statements of account holders under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). These persons were getting 1.5 per cent to 5 per cent share from the fraudster for availing the facility, the official said. The official further said that Vikrant Agrawal who lost Rs 58 crore in the on-line gaming fraud, had deposited money in 12 bank accounts and later the money was routed through 55 and then 400 bank accounts. The police also learnt that the cash was withdrawn by unidentified persons from the bank accounts immediately after lakhs of rupees were transferred to the accounts. Meanwhile, a team of Crime Branch returned form Kolkata as they were unable to trace the accused Astha Jain, Ruby Jain and Vinay Jain. The three were charged for pressuring the victim to withdraw the complaint.