The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Mumbai-based advocate Rashesh Bharatkumar Upadhyay, also known as Rashesh Shah, at Mumbai International Airport in connection with an alleged cyber-fraud and money-laundering network involving banking transactions worth ₹28,000 crore, Nav Gujarat Samay reported on October 28, 2026. The agency alleges that Upadhyay helped reactivate bank accounts frozen after cyber-fraud complaints and facilitated the movement of funds through mule accounts.
According to the report, Upadhyay was detained while attempting to board a connecting flight to Delhi. The ED’s Panaji zonal team alleges that he arranged for bank accounts placed under lien or frozen by investigative agencies to be unfrozen. His alleged role included negotiating bribes, coordinating payments to bank officials and facilitating the transfer of money through accounts linked to suspected cyber-fraud proceeds.
The investigation has identified more than 400 mule bank accounts, according to the ED findings cited in the report. These accounts were allegedly used for multiple transactions and for moving money through a network of purportedly fake companies operating in the commodity, travel and foreign-exchange sectors. The agency is examining whether all the accounts were used to circulate funds obtained through cyber fraud and who else may have been involved.
The ED said its investigation was triggered by a case involving a woman in Goa who was allegedly subjected to a digital-arrest scam. Cyber criminals reportedly posed as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation, kept the woman and her husband under continuous video surveillance, and sent them a fabricated Supreme Court order. The woman subsequently transferred ₹2.60 crore, allegedly following the instructions of the fraudsters.
As investigators traced the money, they reportedly found links between multiple bank accounts and companies. The ED has alleged that Upadhyay helped unfreeze around 100 bank accounts and that several of these accounts recorded transactions worth lakhs of rupees. The agency is examining whether the account reactivation process enabled further movement of funds after the accounts had been flagged in cyber-fraud investigations.
The case reportedly spans 20 states and Union territories. More than 300 complaints and over 160 first information reports have been registered in connection with the alleged cyber-fraud network, with reported financial losses exceeding ₹400 crore. The ED has also cited ₹2,900 crore in cash deposits during its investigation into the wider network.
Upadhyay is the seventh person arrested in the case, according to the report. The agency is now investigating alleged intermediaries, the channels through which bribe money was delivered and the possible role of other officials. The investigation will also examine how funds were routed through mule accounts and shell-like companies, and whether a wider network was involved in restoring access to frozen accounts.
