The City Police have uncovered a financial fraud in which bank accounts opened in the names of women were allegedly used to route transactions worth over Rs 7.68 crore. Investigators believe the accounts may have been used as mule accounts in cyber fraud cases. Separate offences have been registered at Tehsil and Shanti Nagar Police stations. The accused have been identified as Manda Gopalrao Gumgaonkar (42), a resident of Jagannath Budhwari, Pathrabe Mohalla, and her associate Shubham, who is currently absconding. According to the police, Manda allegedly approached women in need of financial assistance. She promised to arrange loans through self-help groups and cooperative societies.

 

She collected Rs 2,000 from each applicant as a processing charge and took their Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and other documents. One of the complainants, Nanda Nitin Bedekar of Yashodhara Nagar, told police that she and 38 other women collectively paid Rs 80,000 to the accused. Instead of receiving loans, bank accounts were allegedly opened in their names at SVC Co-operative Bank without their knowledge. Police said transactions worth Rs 7,68,64,481 were carried out through these accounts in just one-and-a-half months.

 

In a similar case registered at Shanti Nagar Police Station, Manasi Vijay Nimje (28) of Lalganj alleged that an account was opened in her name after she submitted her documents for a promised loan. Police found that transactions worth Rs 17.85 lakh had been routed through the account without her knowledge. Investigators suspect the accounts were used by cyber criminals to transfer money obtained through online fraud. They are now examining the money trail and trying to identify the people behind the transactions, besides verifying whether more women were duped in the same manner.