Seven arrested for siphoning off ₹22.30 crore from T.N. govt.’s account through cyberfraud

The businessman took the money bag and abandoned his companions across the gully and ran away, illegal fundraising and fraud. | Photo Credit: Getty Images The Cyber Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has cracked a major cyberfraud involving the siphoning off of ₹22.30 crore from a bank account maintained by the Tamil Nadu Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department. Seven persons have been arrested for allegedly receiving the defrauded money in their bank accounts and helping divert the funds.The fraud came to light after K.R. Ramprasad, the Block Development Officer/Superintendent attached to the Directorate of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, lodged a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner, alleging that unidentified cybercriminals had fraudulently transferred ₹22.30 crore from the department’s single nodal account maintained with the HDFC Bank’s CIT Nagar branch between October 12 and 30.The account, held in the name of the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, contains funds released by the Union and State governments under the Fifteenth Finance Commission’s health sector grants. The funds were earmarked for strengthening primary healthcare infrastructure and services in rural areas.Online portalAccording to the complaint, Block Development Officers (Block Panchayats) were authorised to operate the account and release payments to contractors through the HDFC Bank’s online banking portal using individual user IDs and passwords. No other person was authorised to initiate or approve transactions.However, a preliminary verification of the bank statements and transaction records revealed a series of unauthorised electronic debits totalling ₹22.30 crore. None of the transactions had been initiated or approved by authorised officials of the department.The fraudulent transactions were reportedly routed through email IDs associated with maker and checker accounts mapped to blocks in Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram and Tiruppur districts. The department suspected that the credentials of authorised users or the banking portal and authentication systems could have been compromised. Following registration of a case, the CCB Cyber Crime Wing analysed the online transactions and traced the movement of the siphoned-off money through 24 bank accounts. Investigators found that the accused had received the money in various accounts, withdrawn portions of it in cash and transferred the remaining amounts to other accounts.The police arrested three persons initially – Chellapandian, 56, of Ekkatuthangal; Karumbur Annadurai, 56, of Triplicane; and Lokanathan, 65, of Bengaluru – who allegedly facilitated the transactions.Subsequently, four more persons were arrested. They were identified as Abdul Rahman, 28, and Jagadish, 31, of Madurai; and Ashraf Ali and Kannadasan of Sivaganga. The police seized seven mobile phones, 14 SIM cards, a bank cheque book and a bank passbook from the accused. Chellapandian Karumbur Annadurai Lokanathan Abdul Rahman Jagadish Ashraf Ali Kannadasan The first three arrested persons — Chellapandian, Annadurai and Lokanathan — were produced before the XI Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet and remanded in judicial custody.The Cyber Crime Wing is continuing its investigation into the role of the other four accused, who allegedly received and routed the proceeds of the fraud through multiple bank accounts.Efforts are also under way to trace the diverted funds, identify other beneficiaries and recover the money, said the police.The remaining four accused will be produced before a court after the interrogation is completed. Published - November 15, 2026 05:00 am IST