Three arrested for involvement in online fraud worth millions

KATHMANDU: Three persons have been arrested from inside and outside Kathmandu Valley for their alleged involvement in a high-level online fraud worth millions of rupees.

A special investigation team from the Metropolitan Crime Division (MCD), Teku arrested the three from assorted locations for being involved in a huge financial scam using social media platforms such as Viber, WhatsApp, Imo, Facebook to defraud people, informed Sushil Singh Rathore, Information Officer at the MCD.

Ramesh Khadka (52) of Dolakha district, Bisheshwar Prasad Tiwari (37) and Sandeep Kalawar (19), both hailing from Nawalparasi, were arrested on the said charge.

According to police, they were involved in extracting money from people in the pretext of lotteries or receiving parcels and then disappearing. They were also part of a larger scam of hacking financial institutions and transacting such funds through various bank accounts. They would then channel the money thus acquired to India via various means after retaining a commission of 15 to 20 per cent for themselves, police further added.

Their involvement has been traced to the infamous hacking of the Agriculture Development Bank, among others. Likewise, they have used 16 other banks to carry out their illegal transactions, said MCD.

Nigerian national Peter Herman Assenga, British national Smith Morris, and some Indian nationals are known to have masterminded the fraud and hacking schemes, wherein they led their "Nepali agents" to carry out the illegal transactions on their behalf.

Investigations show that a total of Rs 146,791,000 has been illegally transacted in such manner, said police. So far, 34 Nepali citizens have been found involved in the scam while 15 victims of the fraud are in contact with the authorities.

Meanwhile, an investigation is being carried out to check whether or not other banks used by the perpetrators have been hacked, said police.