Gujarat police have arrested Anatoly Mironov, a Russian national, in connection with a digital fraud case where a man was duped of Rs 17 lakh. Mironov, from Orenburg, Russia, allegedly served as a "gatekeeper" for a criminal network run by a Chinese national. His duties included facilitating the transfer of stolen funds into various accounts and converting a portion into cryptocurrency.

The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell has confirmed his arrest and is continuing its investigation into the scam.
A "gatekeeper" is a middleman used by international cyber criminals to oversee people hired to receive illegal money and help transfer those funds into the gang's accounts, explained Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Hardik Makadia.

Mironov, who came to India on a tourist visa last year, was already in jail in Pune, Maharashtra, for a similar fraud case. The Cyber Crime Cell took him into custody using a production warrant and brought him to Gujarat on Thursday, according to Mr Makadia.

The investigation began after a businessman from the city filed a complaint in October, saying that he was tricked by people pretending to be Customs and police officers, who put him under a "digital arrest" and extorted Rs 17 lakh from him.

The victim was told by the scammers that a parcel with his name on it had been seized by Customs. The parcel supposedly contained fake passports, ATM cards, and drugs.

The victim was asked to transfer Rs 17 lakh into an account belonging to Mahefulalam Shah. Shah had been convinced by a man named Nadim Pathan, who was in contact with the gang, to lend his bank account for this illegal activity. After the arrest of the criminals, it was discovered that Mironov was also involved in the scam, said Mr Makadia.

After the victim sent Rs 17 lakh to Shah’s account, Mironov called both men to a hotel in Mumbai. There, he moved the money to other accounts, including cryptocurrency, as ordered by his Chinese boss.

Mironov also brought in other people with bank accounts to the hotel to do the same thing. In simple terms, Mironov was like a middleman who watched over the people with bank accounts and made sure the money transfers were done as the gang leaders instructed from outside India.