New Delhi, Aug 6 – On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate executed searches at various locations in the national capital region and Uttarakhand as part of an investigation into money laundering associated with a global cyber fraud network that has defrauded both Indian and foreign nationals of funds amounting to crores of rupees, according to official sources.

The operations are being carried out under the PMLA) and involve at least 11 locations in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, and Dehradun, the sources reported.

Fraudsters operating in these areas were reportedly “deceiving” Indian and foreign nationals by posing as police or officials from investigative agencies, extorting money by threatening them with arrest, the sources indicated.

Additionally, the fraudsters impersonated technical support agents from Microsoft and Amazon to “defraud” their victims.

The agency discovered that the victims’ financial assets were converted into cryptocurrencies and subsequently transferred to the suspects.

The accused allegedly generated approximately Rs 260 crore in Bitcoins across various crypto-wallets, which were later converted into cash through transactions involving USDTs via multiple hawala operators and individuals in the UAE, as per agency sources.

This money laundering case originates from FIRs filed by the CBI and the Delhi Police.