Ten arrested in Chinese app-based Rs 900 crore fraud, Hyderabad cops suspect thousands of crores sent abroad

HYDERABAD: A Chinese man and a Taiwanese national were among 10 people arrested over the past few days for funnelling money abroad through a fraudulent app-based Chinese investment scheme that promised high returns, Hyderabad police said Wednesday.
Police claimed to have found a Rs 903-crore hawala-cum-money laundering fraud, but they suspect thousands of crores may have been wired abroad.
Investigators discovered the racket digging deep after a city resident complained a few months ago that he was robbed by online fraudsters. He had invested Rs 1.6 lakh through the LOXAM app. He realised he was duped when the app became inaccessible.
Briefing the media, Hyderabad police commissioner CV Anand disclosed the arrests, including those of Lec alias Li Zhongjun of China and Chu Chun-Yu of Taiwan. Lec was at a detention centre in Delhi. He was questioned and, based on his disclosure, Chu was caught when he landed in Mumbai from Cambodia on Tuesday night.
"So far, we found on record that Rs 903 crore of our country's wealth has gone abroad. This has serious security ramifications. We want to involve central agencies like ED and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) as the pan-India fraud could run into thousands of crores,'' Anand said.
Police rounded up Sahil Bajaj, Sunny, Virender Singh, Sanjay Yadav, Navneeth Kaushik, Mohd. Parvez, Syed Sultan and Mirza Nadeem Baig. The Hyderabad victim’s `1.6 lakh was credited into the bank account of Xindai Technologies, which was was opened by Virender Singh. Police grilled the suspect and realised it was a Chinese investment fraud. Virender said he opened the account on instructions of a man named Jack, who is said to be in China.
The phone numbers given while opening the bank account of Xindai were common with Betench Network account, which was opened by a man named Sanjay Kumar of Delhi. Sanjay too was found to be working for Lec and his two handlers Pei and Huan Zhuan. Sanjay shared 15 account details to Chu.
Money from accounts of Xindai and Betench was redistributed to different accounts. Money in Xindai’s account was transferred to 38 accounts, which includes those of two city residents — Syed Sultan and Mirza Nadeem Baig — on the instructions of Parvez, who is in custody. Imran, who is Dubai-based, diverted the loot through hawala. “The role of two RBI licensed foreign exchanges—Ranjan Money and KDS Forext — came to light. Navneet Kaushik sent the money to forex exchanges run in the name of International Tours and Travels,” Anand said.