American officials on Thursday Oct 27,2016 charged 61 firms and
individuals in relation to a call centre scam that involved fraudsters
in India, and arrested 20 persons from eight US states.
The
scamsters had impersonated US revenue officials to extort money from
unsuspecting victims. Earlier this month, Thane Police arrested 70
persons after a raid on seven call centres operating illegally. Another
630 people were booked for extortion, cheating by impersonation and
cheating. A 33-year-old Mumbai businessman identified as Jagdish Kanani,
who is alleged to have mentored the mastermind of the multi-million
dollar racket, was also arrested.
According to
sources, after the raids by Thane Police, FBI officers visited Mumbai to
find out about the different entities that were part of the nexus. The
US officials then involved several departments there to to carry out the
arrests.
Thursday’s arrests were based on an
indictment brought in the Southern District of Texas that charges 61
entities and individuals, including five call centre groups, located
primarily in the United States and India, with an international fraud
and money laundering conspiracy, US Assistant Attorney General Leslie
Caldwell said in a statement. More than15,000 victims lost over $300
million in the scam. “More than 15,000 victims, including new immigrants
to this country and the elderly, were targeted by a complex fraud
scheme involving a network of call centres originating in India. This
transnational criminal ring targeted victims in the United States,
impersonating IRS, Immigration, police and other government officials,
and demanded immediate payments to avoid deportation, arrest warrants or
to cover allegedly unpaid income taxes.
In the process, these criminals took in hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds,” Caldwell said.
The
investigation revealed that there were victims across the United States
— mainly immigrants and the elderly. In one instance, a man from
California was duped into shelling out $136,000 through calls made
multiple times over a 20-day period, demanding payment for alleged tax
violations.
“The arrests are a very positive step
for the Indian BPM industry, which has always had very strong processes.
The individuals arrested were not just Indians but also American
citizens and have shown no connection to the organised BPM industry in
India. This case also demonstrates the robustness of the Indian
judiciary system and Indian law enforcement agencies,” said KS
Viswanathan, Vice-President of Nasscom.
The
criminal network is believed to have been working for the last four
years, using a variety of schemes to trick frightened individuals over
the telephone.
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