Fake Call Centre Scammed Foreigners, Busted. Assets Attached By Enforcement Directorate

The Patna zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 2.83 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The attachment is linked to a transnational cyber fraud racket involving fake call centres operated by Sagar Yadav and his Kolkata-based companies - Scrapix Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd and Casanovus Reality Pvt Ltd.

The attached assets include land parcels, flats, and fixed deposits, acquired using proceeds of crime generated through cyber fraud targeting foreign nationals.

The investigation was initiated following a tip-off received by the ED from the National Central Bureau (NCB)-India (CBI), which had been alerted by NCB-Ireland.

The case involved fraud committed on an Irish national, Carmel Fox, and was registered under the "cross-border Implication" category as per Section 2(1)(ra) of the PMLA.

The ED's probe revealed that the accused had been running fake call centres to defraud international victims.

The illicit funds were funneled into India through channels like Western Union, Moneygram, Rewire, Remitly, and even cryptocurrencies. These funds were then laundered through peer-to-peer lending platforms including Lenden Club, Lendbox, and Liquiloans.

Two immovable properties bought in the names of Scrapix Consultancy and Casanovus Reality worth Rs 2.67 crore, along with fixed deposits of Rs 15.75 lakh have been placed under provisional attachment.

So far, the ED has arrested seven individuals including mastermind Sagar Yadav and has filed one prosecution complaint and two supplementary complaints against him, his companies, and associates.

Further investigation is ongoing.