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The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested the alleged mastermind of a pan-India cyber fraud operation involving over Rs 750 crore, at Delhi’s airport.
Abhishek Agarwal, a chartered accountant by profession, is accused of running a fake loan app racket in collaboration with Chinese nationals, exploiting thousands of Indians.
The arrest was made under a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued in an interstate cyber fraud case. Agarwal, a resident of Ashok Vihar, North West Delhi, was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.
Agarwal had created around 35–40 shell companies, with 13 registered under his own name and 28 under his wife’s name. Several of these companies had Chinese nationals as co-directors. The financial transactions through these entities amounted to over Rs 750 crore, now under investigation for links to illicit cyber activities.
The accused is believed to have played a key role in bringing Chinese nationals to India in 2019–20 to set up the infrastructure for the scam. He had personally travelled to Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2019, which investigators believe was to coordinate operations with his overseas counterparts.
The STF has revealed that the gang operated over 15 fake loan applications—including Inst Loan, Maxi Loan, KK Cash, RupeeGo, and Lendkar—which promised quick, low-documentation loans. Once victims downloaded the apps, the perpetrators gained access to their mobile devices, stealing personal data such as contacts, photos, and messages.
Using this data, the accused and his associates would blackmail and threaten victims with edited photographs and harassing messages, demanding exorbitant interest and penalties. The fear of social shame and mental harassment forced many victims to transfer large sums of money into various bank accounts.
The STF had earlier arrested Ankur Dhingra, another key figure in the network, from Gurgaon. Dhingra was linked to a company called Hector Lendkaro, which operated some of the fraudulent apps. In 2023, a call center in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, suspected of being part of the operation, was raided, and SIM boxes were seized.
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