- Friday, April 04, 2025
PYYPL and its operators indulged in “cybercrimes” like investment frauds, illegal betting, part-time job frauds etc and duped people across India of funds worth ₹3 billion
By: India Weekly
THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE (ED) on Thursday (3) said it has filed a fresh chargesheet in a case of cyber fraud through which a UAE-based payment platform and its operators duped people in India of funds worth ₹3 billion (£26.72 million).
The supplementary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) was filed against five accused in the case against PYYPL before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Chennai on March 28.
The court took its cognisance on April 2, the federal probe agency said in a statement.
PYYPL is a UAE-based financial technology-powered payment platform and it indulged in “cybercrimes” like investment frauds, illegal betting, part-time job frauds etc., it said.
The ED has arrested eight people – chartered accountants Ajay and Vipin Yadav, two crypto “traders” named Jitendra Kaswan and Alladi Rajasai (who operate from Dubai) and four others from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur – Rakesh Karwa, Chhotu Singh Gurjar, Mohit Singh and Kuldeep Singh.
According to the agency, these people were “involved” in this “large-scale” cyber-fraud operation spanning across the country that “defrauded” hundreds of victims.
The ED has claimed that an organised criminal syndicate (OCS), with members operating under the name of Jennifer, Alan, Tom, Tom-Support etc. through multiple Telegram groups, hatched a conspiracy to cheat the Indian public and fraudulently appropriate their money.
The operators of the syndicate hired certain individuals from the country for arranging and operating thousands of “mule” bank accounts (accounts used for transacting illicit funds) in lieu of commission, according to the ED.
Once the defrauded money is deposited in these accounts, the accused would “launder” the proceeds through various other mule accounts, convert the money into crypto currency on the PYYPL platform or through cash in Dubai and transfer it back to private crypto wallets shared by the members of the OCS in the Telegram groups.
The accused are alleged to have orchestrated a “scam” worth about ₹3.03 billion (ascertained till now) as the ED said it conducted the investigation jointly with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C).
The ED said further investigation in the case is ongoing even as several suspects are “absconding” and authorities are working to identify additional suspects and recover and attach the proceeds of crime.
Multiple electronic devices like laptops, iPads, smartphones, apart from private crypto wallets, multiple bank accounts, chequebooks, ATM cards etc., were either frozen or seized by the agency during searches conducted in connection with the case.
The first chargesheet was filed in the case in January. (PTI)
