- Chetan Gangani helped transfer ₹10 crore to a Pakistan-based crypto wallet via BitGet over four months.
- He was tied to six others accused of routing ₹200 crore through 100 mule accounts connected to 386 fraud cases.
- Gujarat CID tracked seven transaction layers and continues to trace overseas wallets and related suspects.
Gujarat Police have arrested a Surat resident for helping cyber fraudsters move ₹10 crore into a Pakistan-based cryptocurrency wallet. Investigators said Chetan Gangani used his BitGet crypto account to convert Indian funds into USDT, or Tether, over four months. Officials stated that the money was routed to a Pakistani digital wallet linked to ongoing cybercrime operations.
The arrest followed a detailed probe by the CID-Crime Cyber Centre of Excellence, which is examining hundreds of mule bank accounts used for laundering proceeds from online scams. Police said Gangani worked closely with a network already under investigation for transferring large sums to overseas accounts.
Link to Wider ₹200 Crore Laundering Network
Authorities reported that Gangani had connections with six individuals arrested earlier on November 3 from Morbi, Surendranagar, Surat, and Amreli districts. Those suspects allegedly helped move about ₹200 crore to Dubai-based cybercriminals by using nearly 100 mule accounts. These accounts received and transferred illegal funds from multiple online fraud cases.
Officials explained that a mule account is a regular bank account exploited by criminals to transfer or hide illicit funds, often under false pretenses. Investigators found that 386 cybercrime cases across India, including investment, job, and loan frauds, were linked to this network.
Cryptocurrency Route and Financial Commission
Gangani assisted the gang by converting ₹10 crore into USDT tokens before forwarding them abroad. Police said he received a 0.10 percent commission on every transaction. However, the total earnings from his activities remain undisclosed. The probe has revealed that the targeted Pakistan-based wallet has received more than ₹25 crore from Indian accounts so far.
The home portfolio overseen by Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi was the one where investigators, through a digital trail spanning seven transaction layers from Indian bank accounts to cryptocurrency transfers, confirmed the individuals involved. The officials stated that identifying the additional individuals involved and tracing further foreign wallets connected to the fraud are the primary objectives of the ongoing investigation.
The Gujarat CID-Crime unit regarded the case as a part of their larger operation against the cross-border cybercriminals who are using the digital payment channels for their activities. Gangani is still in detention, and at the same time, the authorities are still collecting the evidence analyzing the crypto trail that connects the Indian and foreign accounts.
