ED Freezes Fresh Deposits Worth Rs. 78 Crore After Raids at Premises of Razorpay, Chinese Loan Apps

Razorpay, other illegal Chinese loan apps have been in the ED's crosshairs since 2020, soon after the COVID-19 outbreak started in the country.

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 21 October 2022 20:55 IST

ED Freezes Fresh Deposits Worth Rs. 78 Crore After Raids at Premises of Razorpay, Chinese Loan Apps

Photo Credit: Twitter

The ED had said the alleged proceeds of crime in this case were routed through these payment gateways

Highlights

The money laundering case stems from 18 FIRs filed by cyber crime police
ED searches were carried out at five premises in Bengaluru on October 19
ED had earlier seized deposits worth Rs. 17 crore in the case

The ED on Friday said it has frozen fresh deposits worth Rs. 78 crore following raids at the premises of payment gateway Razorpay and some banks as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against the alleged illegal operations of loan apps "controlled" by Chinese nationals.

The searches were carried out at five premises in Bengaluru on October 19, the Enforcement Directorate said.

The money laundering case stems from 18 FIRs filed by the cyber crime police station of Bengaluru police against numerous entities/persons for their involvement in extortion and harassment of the public who had availed small amounts of loans through the mobile apps being run by them.

"These entities are controlled/operated by Chinese nationals. The modus operandi of these entities is to use forged documents of Indians and make them dummy directors and generate proceeds of crime."

"It has come to notice that the said entities were doing their suspected/illegal business through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways and banks," the ED said.

These entities were generating "proceeds of crime" through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways and banks and they have submitted fake addresses in KYC documents.

"An amount of Rs. 78 crore has been seized in merchant IDs (held in payment gateways) and bank accounts of these Chinese persons-controlled entities. The total seizure in the case now stands at Rs. 95 crore," the ED said.

The agency had earlier seized deposits worth Rs. 17 crore in the case.

It said fresh searches were carried out at the premises of Razorpay and compliance offices of some of the banks.

These payment gateway firms have been in the ED's crosshairs since 2020, soon after the COVID-19 outbreak started in the country.

The ED initiated a probe under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a number of instances of gullible debtors ending their lives came to the fore from various states, with the police stating they were being coerced and harassed by these loan app (application) companies by publicising their personal details available in their phones and using high-handed methods to threaten them.

It was alleged that the companies sourced all personal data of the loan-takers at the time of downloading these apps on their phones, even as their interest rates were "usurious".

The ED had said the alleged proceeds of crime in this case were routed through these payment gateways.

Is the Realme Pad the best budget tablet you can purchase under Rs. 20,000? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.