CBI Arrests Key Accused in Cyber Fraud Targeting US Nationals
CBI arrests Ankit Satishchandra Pandey in a transnational cyber fraud case involving illegal Ahmedabad call centres that targeted US nationals, with losses exceeding $7.21 million.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a key accused in a transnational cyber-enabled financial fraud case involving illegal call centres that targeted United States nationals.
The accused has been identified as Ankit Satishchandra Pandey. The agency registered the case against him and others on September 8, following allegations that a syndicate had been operating illegal call centres from Ahmedabad in Gujarat since 2024.
According to the agency, the accused persons impersonated officers of the Federal Trade Commission, the US Attorney, the Critical Infrastructure Security Agency and other federal agencies. Through VoIP communications, they allegedly told victims that their identities had been used by someone to access child pornography through their computer systems.
The accused then allegedly induced the victims to withdraw funds from their bank accounts, purchase gold and hand it over to courier persons engaged by the syndicate in the United States. The defrauded amount quantified so far is over $7.21 million.
After registering the case, the CBI carried out searches at multiple locations in Ahmedabad and seized electronic and digital evidence. The main accused was arrested on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.