Summary of this article
Hissar man arrested for letting fraudsters use his bank account in return of commission.
He earned commission on every fraudulent credit to his account.
Experts suggest reporting any unauthorised credits in a bank account or risk a mule account tag.
The police in Haryana have arrested a 29-year-old man from Hissar district for allegedly providing his bank account to cyber fraudsters. The police reached the man (mule account holder) through his bank account, which was found to be used in siphoning off the fraudulent money in a cyber fraud matter investigation. The fraud was reported by a Gurugram resident after he lost Rs 1.08 crore to fraudsters.
The mule account holder (Kuldeep) is a resident of Khari village in Hissar. The investigation team from the Gurugram Sector-56 cybercrime branch took him into custody on October 5. According to the police, the mule account holder was arrested only after establishing evidence that his bank account was used in a stock market investment fraud, in which the Gurugram-based victim was duped of a huge sum last year.
What Is A Mule Account?
A mule account is just like any other bank account, but it is used by criminals or fraudsters to receive and transfer illegal money. Like a mule that carries a heavy load that doesn’t belong to it from one place to another, a mule account carries funds received fraudulently from other people from one account to another accounts. However, it is not always intentional. Sometimes, fraudsters use innocent people’s accounts as mule accounts without their knowledge.
How Did The Investigation Begin?
The victim formally reported the matter to the Cybercrime police station (West) in Gurugram in November 2025, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. In the complaint, he alleged that he was cheated out of approximately Rs 1.08 crore in a stock market investment fraud. Fraudsters lured him to invest in the stock market to earn huge returns.
Following the complaint, an FIR was registered under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an investigation was initiated. During the investigation, police traced the movement of the funds and found involvement of Kuldeep’s bank account. As per the report, the money duped from the victim was directly transferred into the bank account of Kuldeep.
The probe further revealed that Kuldeep had fraudulently opened a current account with a private bank. During the enquiry, the police stated that Kuldeep disclosed that he gave his bank account details to an associate and, in return, he used to earn a commission every time money was credited into his account. So, for every large sum that passed through his account, he received a commission. Reportedly, Rs 3.74 lakh of the total duped amount from the victim was credited into Kuldeep’s account.
According to the police, the suspect (Kuldeep) would sometimes withdraw the deposited cash manually and deposit it into another bank account after taking out his commission from the cash, and other times, he would transfer the remaining funds in the account via online modes.
This way, he managed to maintain the transaction flow without being caught. The procedure allowed him to fraudulently receive funds in his account and transfer them to another private bank account after deducting his commission amount.
What Is The Punishment For Someone Who Provides Their Bank Account To Be Used As A Mule Account?
Says Prashanth Ramdas, Partner at Khaitan & Co: “Such persons can be prosecuted for fraud under the criminal law framework under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and can also face implications under specific statutes such as the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, etc. The punishments may range from fines to imprisonment for up to seven years. Further, individuals may face consequences including suspensions, seizures or freezes on their accounts.”
So, if there is a credit into your account you can’t recall the source, it is important to check with the bank to avoid being identified as a mule account and further legal hassles.
Ramdas adds, “Informing the bank promptly of any unauthorised credit has become increasingly important. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a Standard Operating Procedure ("SOP") on cyber-fraud complaints, and the Supreme Court of India has directed that it be operationalised. In line with this, the Reserve Bank of India has also released a draft SOP on banks placing temporary debit holds on suspected money mule accounts. Under both frameworks, accounts may be put on hold or frozen, and the hold is lifted only if the account holder satisfactorily explains the transaction. Given this, account holders should inform the bank of any unauthorised credit in their accounts as soon as they are aware of such activity.”
In this matter, the mule account holder is in police custody. The investigation is underway to trace the complete money trail, identify the fraudsters involved in the scam, and bust the entire racket.
