International cyber criminals transferred over Rs 1,455 crore through 89 Indian bank accounts in just six months, Gujarat Police revealed on Friday.These accounts were provided to the criminals on a commission basis, by three men from Surat, according to police inspector SN Desai.The fraud came to light after the arrest of Kirat Jadwani, Meet Khokhar, and Mayur Italia on May 28. The men were held on charges of cheating and forgery, after police recovered 21 debit cards, 30 cheque books, and six PAN cards issued under different names. Their arrest followed a routine vehicle check in Surat’s Udhna area, where an associate was caught carrying fake PAN cards and firm stamps.“We found the trio had opened 165 bank accounts using documents of people who had applied for personal loans. They gave access to the criminals for cyber crimes including digital arrest, hawala transfer, task fraud, betting, stock market fraud, online cheating and OTP fraud,” Desai said.According to Desai, the accused got in touch with cyber gangs based in Cuba, Thailand, and Malaysia through the messaging app Telegram. In exchange for access to the accounts, they were offered handsome commissions.“We have so far received details of 89 of these 165 accounts from the bank. All identified accounts have since been frozen after victims lodged complaints,” Desai said.The police believe the fraudsters used a clever trick to get the bank accounts opened, approaching people applying for personal loans and taking their documents, claiming they could help secure the funds.After opening an account using those documents, they would return the papers to the applicant, saying the loan was rejected.“Since they used to give their own mobile number to get an OTP, the applicant never realised that a bank account had been opened in their name,” Desai explained.“Initially, the gang would lease out each account for a one-time fee of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 17 lakh. As their operations grew, they began charging a 3% to 4% cut of every transaction routed through the accounts. In just six months, the three accused earned Rs 10 crore from commission as the transactions in each of these accounts used to continue all day. The total amount would go up to Rs 30 to 40 crore in each account,” he added.The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal has already received nearly 2,500 complaints linked to these accounts, including 265 from Gujarat alone, over the past six months.