ED arrests 3 who 'duped' foreign nationals from Mathura call centres

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has arrested three people who were allegedly running fake call centres in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh for "cheating" foreign nations from countries such as the US, Canada and the Philippines by luring them with cheap loans.

The federal probe agency said in a statement that it arrested the alleged "mastermind" Shahnawaz Ahmed Jeelan, who had a pseudonym Davind Morrison, and his two "close associates" Vipin Kumar Sharma and Viraj Singh Kuntal. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court sent them to ED custody till July 5, it said.

The arrests came after the agency launched raids at a total of 14 premises in Rajasthan -- Jaipur and Nagaur -- and Mathura, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on June 27 in a money laundering case linked to "fraud with foreign nationals in the guise of cheaper/concessional loans." Rs 90.37 lakh in cash was seized by the agency during these searches apart from "incriminating" material from the two Mathura call centres that contained "details of thousands of foreign nationals cheated by the accused over the years".

The agency said it has traced the money trail of about Rs 54 crore "proceeds of crime" sent to India by the victims in the accounts of more than 50 entities "controlled" by Jeelani, his alleged associate Mahmud Khan and others.

Some people working in these call centres had also worked in a similar fake setup in Jaipur, against whom the Rajasthan Police too had booked some criminal cases in the past, the ED said. PTI NES CK