Kochi: The investigation into one of Kerala’s most significant cyber fraud cases has reached a new milestone with the Kochi City Cyber Police arresting two more persons from Hyderabad. The arrested persons have been identified as Sathanarayana Moorthy, a businessman in Hyderabad and his assistant Tyson Raju. 

The case involves a 49-year-old pharmaceutical company owner from Elamkulam in Kochi who was defrauded of ₹24.76 crore between March 2023 and August 2025. The victim was lured into a fraudulent stock trading scheme via the website named capitalix and a Telegram bot.

Their arrests bring the total number of arrests in the case to seven, as authorities intensify their efforts to track a money trail that spans multiple states and international borders.

The latest phase of the investigation focused on a bank account in Hyderabad where approximately ₹16 crore of the looted funds were allegedly transferred. While the account was registered to Tyson Raju, the police found it was being managed by Moorthy, a businessman with interests in the construction sector.

An 11-member police team tracked the suspects to Hyderabad, where they coordinated with local cyber authorities.

“On checking with Hyderabad Cyber Police, it was found that Moorthy was arrested in another similar fraud and was released on bail. So it was easy for us to trace him. But the residential community he lived in had tight security but we managed to detain him. He tried to resist but we arrested him on Saturday. Raju was also arrested before that,” a police officer said. 

Following their arrest on Saturday, the duo is being brought to Kochi on a transit warrant. Authorities are currently investigating whether the diverted funds were funnelled into Moorthy's various business ventures across different countries.

The arrests in Hyderabad follow the earlier apprehension of three men in Kozhikode - PK Raheez, V Ansar, and CK Anees Rahman - who were found with a massive cache of 250 SIM cards, 40 mobile phones, and 40 bank accounts. This trio, along with a previously arrested Kollam native named Sujitha, is believed to have facilitated the complex layering of transactions.

The police have earlier traced the hosting of the fraudulent domain to Cyprus, suggesting the operation is managed by an international syndicate.

The fraud involved over 90 transactions, with money routed through multiple accounts to evade detection.

While the investigators have successfully frozen ₹40 lakh, they are now focused on the ₹16 crore linked to the Hyderabad suspects.

A senior police officer said that the suspects were not mere intermediaries but were “fully aware” of the operation. The police are expected to seek custody of Moorthy and Raju to further examine the specifics of how the stolen capital was utilised and to identify any remaining players in the racket.