Jharkhand court convicts 5 Jamtara cyber criminals for money laundering

Ranchi: A special PMLA court in Ranchi on Saturday convicted five Jamtara residents under the anti-money laundering law for running an “organised” cyber crime syndicate, official sources said.

A Netflix series named “Jamtara” that streamed in 2020 is said to have been based on real-life incidents of phishing phone calls and bank accounts scamming launched by some criminals from this district giving it the moniker of ‘cyber crime capital’ for many years.

Police and other probe agencies later went full steam against these criminals, many of whom were youngsters.

Official sources told PTI those convicted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) include Ganesh Mandal (51), his son Pradeep Kumar Mandal (30), Santosh Mandal (51) and his sons Pintu Mandal (33) and Ankush Kumar Mandal (27).

The quantum of sentence is expected to be announced by the court on July 23, the sources said.

The federal probe agency had filed a charge sheet against the five accused in May, 2019.

The ED slapped criminal charges under the PMLA against these cyber criminals after taking cognisance of a Jharkhand Police FIR and charge sheet that charged them with illegal withdrawal and transfer of money from the ATMs/bank accounts of gullible people in guise of being a bank official.

The ED had said its investigation found that the accused “in connivance with other persons acquired funds in their bank accounts and family member’s bank accounts by cheating the bank customers, some other individuals and invested the same in the construction of houses and purchase of vehicles.”