HYDERABAD: Key facts are coming to the fore with the arrest of two Africans and a woman from the North East by the Hyderabad police from Bengaluru in connection with the Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank fraud which came to light last week.

The server of the AP Mahesh Co-operative Bank at the bank's headquarters in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad was hacked into and a sum of Rs 12.90 crore was embezzled in a matter of hours. However, the police found that the cyber hackers had laundered Rs 12.4 crore and deposited the money in three accounts. They had transferred Rs. 12.9 crore to around 129 accounts across India after hacking into three bank accounts maintained with the bank.

As reports, the woman colluded with the scamsters and allegedly provided her bank account details to a person who was introduced to her by the two Africans, after which Rs. 22 lakh was transferred into her account. Afterward, the amount was credited, she transferred it to another account as directed by the person. The woman was paid a commission of five percent for the task, sources say.

Teams of the Hyderabad police are camping in various cities across the country to track down the 129 account holders who allegedly received Rs. 12.4 crore rupees. The Hyderabad cyber crime police based on a complaint from the bank had started an investigation and identified many account holders who received the money. Three account holders from New Delhi in whose account the money was deposited were taken into custody by the police and are being brought to the city. In certain instances, the police found that the account holders do not have knowledge of the transactions or that an account in their name exists in the particular bank.

It is learned that hackers diverted money from those three accounts to 128 accounts and this has made the task of recovering the money a difficult task. A team headed by Inspector Satish and G Venkatarami Reddy, who had collected the bank account details, left for Bangalore on Monday. The main accused Shimrang, Jamulu, and Emanuel were arrested on the basis of phone numbers and other details. They were brought to Hyderabad on Tuesday and sent on remand. Police are on the lookout for more suspects in Bangalore.

As per reports Shimrang had come to Bangalore to study five years ago and worked in a private company. She was introduced to Jamulu from Nigeria three years ago and fell in love with him. Jamulu was studying B Pharmacy at Rajiv Gandhi University. Meanwhile, Emanuel had come to Bangalore from Nigeria to study engineering. Police investigation revealed that Nigerians who planned to extort crores of cash from Mahesh Bank also selected the bank customers needed to transfer money. They had agreed to pay 10 percent commission in Kerala, 15 percent in Delhi and 30 percent in Bangalore for a bank account.

Further details are awaited.

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