Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police this week disclosed they have busted a Chinese investment scam of Rs 903 crore with the arrest of 10 individuals including a Chinese resident. 

The arrested accused from Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad include Sahil Bajaj, Sunny, Virender Singh, Sanjay Yadav, Navneeth Kaushik, Md. Parvez, Syed Sultan, Mirza Nadeem Baig, Lec alis Li Zhongjun and Chu Chun-yu. 

According to Police Commissioner C.V. Anand, the fraudsters employed online investment apps to trap investors. The money collected from the victims was moved via virtual route till it reached the AMCs bank account, from where the currency was exchanged, and finally, the value was transferred out to Chinese operators via a hawala route. So far, Rs 1.91 crore has been frozen in various bank accounts in this case. 

The fraud campaign was unraveled after a Hyderabad citizen who lost Rs 1.6 lakh after investing in an app named LOXAM approached the police in July. 

In the investigation, police identified that the complainant's money was deposited in the bank account of Indusind Bank in the name of Xindai Technologies Pvt Ltd. This bank account was opened by the accused, Virender Singh, who disclosed that he opened a bank account in the name of Xindai Technologies Pvt Ltd on the orders of Jack, a Chinese national who used to operate the account. 

Another firm involved in the same scam, Betench Networks Pvt Ltd, shared the same phone as Xindai’s, and further investigation led to the account holder Sanjay Yadav of Delhi, who allegedly opened on the instruction of Lec and Pei of China. Yadav opened 15 other bank accounts and sent their details to Taiwan’s Chu Chun-yu, who was arrested in Mumbai. 

The local account holders received a commission of ₹1.2 lakh for opening fake accounts. Identical accounts were also unearthed from Hyderabad with instructions and commission from Dubai, the police added.

From Xindai Technologies, money was transferred to 38 bank accounts and finally landed with authorized money change companies Ranjan Money Corp and KDS Forex Pvt Ltd, owned by Naveen Kaushik. “The AMCs flouted all exchange and anti-money laundering rules mandated by the RBI. It is also a clear case of negligence on part of the banking system,” Mr. Anand concluded.