New Delhi: A 40-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the alleged Rs 7.8-crore cyber fraud involving former MP Naresh GujralThe accused, identified as Navneet, is a resident of Punjab and works for a private company. Police sources said he was apprehended from Punjab on Sunday after investigators traced his suspected role in the money trail linked to the fraud.Police have found out that Navneet had allegedly provided his savings bank account to the scammers to facilitate the transfer of the defrauded funds. Investigators discovered that Rs 15 lakh from the cheated amount had been routed through his account, making him a crucial link in the financial chain.According to police sources, Navneet claimed during interrogation that he had shared his bank account on a commission basis and was promised a percentage of the transferred money. “He told us during questioning that he had allowed the use of his account in exchange for commission. His statement is being verified and further interrogation is underway,” a source said.Investigators have so far traced the money to four bank accounts in the first layer spread across Maharashtra, Pune and Telangana. Police said substantial portions of the defrauded amount were routed through these accounts, with one account alone receiving nearly Rs 2.5 crore. From there, the funds were allegedly diverted to nearly 40 more bank accounts in the second layer in what investigators believe was a deliberate attempt to break the transaction trail and make recovery difficult.Police said the fraud took place between June 12 and 16, when the cybercriminals allegedly created a fake account on a messaging platform using Gujral’s display picture and identity to impersonate him.Investigators said the fraudsters then contacted an employee of Gujral’s company, sending urgent messages instructing multiple RTGS transfers for what appeared to be legitimate business requirements. Believing that the instructions were from Gujral, the employee made four fund transfers, amounting to Rs 7.8 crore.According to police, the fraud initially went unnoticed as the transactions appeared to be part of routine business approvals. During the process, the bank flagged the unusually large transfers and sought clearance from the company’s CFO. The CFO reportedly approved the transactions, assuming they had been authorised by Gujral.The scam came to light on June 16 when a company official, sensing something unusual, reached out to Gujral’s daughter to verify the payments. She checked with her father and found that he had not issued any such instructions. Following this, the family lodged a complaint.Investigators found that the gang first sent the malicious file to one of the employees, compromising his mobile phone. Once they gained access, the accused allegedly tampered with the contact details stored in the device.The fraudsters replaced Gujral’s phone number in the employee’s contact list with their own number while retaining Gujral’s profile picture. This made all incoming messages from the fake number appear as if they were from Gujral.
