MUMBAI, May 28 -- A multi-state money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into a crime syndicate that allegedly extorted Rs.1.15 crore from a victim by placing him under digital arrest has revealed the usage of bogus bank accounts and multiple layers of financial transactions to divert the proceeds of crime. The ED suspects that multiple layers of transactions were used to mask the end-recipients of the crime's proceeds and to show the funds as untainted, agency sources said. The ED's probe is based on a case registered by the cyber crime police station in Ahmedabad city against unknown persons who allegedly defrauded the complainant of Rs.1.15 crore. The case was registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act after the complainant was placed under 'digital arrest', which involves criminals impersonating law enforcement officials to intimidate and trap victims to extort money. Victims in such cases are virtually 'detained', monitored and manipulated into transferring money under the guise of legal compliances. The ED's probe revealed that the extorted amount of Rs.1.15 crore, which comprises the proceeds of crime, was first transferred to bank accounts maintained in the name of a fruit-trading firm and a charitable trust. The money was then transferred almost instantaneously to several other bank accounts across the country in tranches of Rs.5-10 lakh, via interbank electronic fund transfers and instant real-time payment transfers. Thereafter, the funds were either withdrawn in the form of cash or were further transferred to another set of bank accounts through interbank electronic fund transfers, ED sources said. The ED is currently trying to identify the end-beneficiaries in the case....