Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has issued look out notices (LOCs) on 11 locals, who were involved in an over `175 crore hawala cyber scam. Most of these accused are in foreign countries and maintain strong nexus with hawala organisers in different states.
They have been luring victims and getting current accounts opened in their names in banks with fake identity documents. A TGCSB special team got an alert from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) on high-valued cash transactions in six current accounts of a bank in Shamsheergunj and took up the case.
On August 24, the TGCSB arrested Mohammed Shoeb Tauqeer of Vijaynagar Colony and Mahmood Bin Ahmed Bawazir of Moghalpura. Shoeb Tauqeer is said to be the younger brother of major hawala organiser Mohammed Farooq Tauqeer.
These organisers have also been using their associates, who are operating from various countries, to deliver the illegal hawala money on a commission basis, sources in TGCSB disclosed.
Shoeb’s brother Farooq, who is operating from Dubai along with his associates, have been using multiple servers and different SIM cards to hide their identity.
Police said Farooq directed his brother Shoeb to have current accounts opened in a. Shoeb took the help of two persons, both named Bawazir, and opened current accounts in the names of six persons.
On August 28, the TGSCB team got a breakthrough after Shoeb disclosed that bank branch manager Upadhya Sandeep Sharma colluded them for a commission.
The TGCSB arrested Sharma, who reported confessed his involvement in the scam. Sharma also claimed that the hawala operators had deleted the transaction details from the database prior to his arrest. However, the TGSCB using advanced tools retrieved the data from the seized devices of the bank manager and his laptop. The arrest of Sharma led the TGCSB to Farooq and his 11 associates.
“Our teams have alerted the cyber teams of other metro cities and have collected information on the accused and also identified from which countries they are operating. Very soon we will get them and their associates after we arrest the local hawala delivery boys, an officer said.
