New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has found that a Grenadian man based in Dubai is the “beneficial owner” of a Delhi-based company accused of perpetrating a “large-scale” betting, gaming and cyber fraud-linked money-laundering ring in India, along with others.
The central agency said in a statement on Saturday that it conducted searches at the premises of the company — Pay10 Services Private Limited (formerly known as Bhartipay Services Private Limited) — apart from Asian Checkout Private Limited (ACPL) and some others between May 13 and May 15 in Delhi-NCR, Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh (Fatehgarh Sahib district) in Punjab and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
An email sent to Pay10 by PTI on May 13 has remained unanswered. An email query sent to Asian Checkout on the ED charges made against it also did not elicit an immediate response.
The ED said these companies were “payment aggregator” platforms and alleged that they were involved in “large-scale digital and cyber fraud-related money laundering activities”.
“The investigation has identified the cartel involved in arranging fake bills for Pay10 for the purpose of money laundering.
“The Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) of Pay10 has been identified as a Grenadian individual based out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the agency said.
Grenada is a Caribbean country.
The ED said certain chartered accountants (CAs) have also been found involved with the foreigner.
There is a well-structured modus operandi involving the laundering of hundreds of crores of rupees through fake websites and payment gateways, the agency said.
Several “fictitious” websites were created to project “bogus” sale of goods and services where no genuine underlying business activity was carried out.
The funds generated through such “fake” transactions were routed through payment gateways and thereafter layered, diverted and concealed to disguise their illicit origin, the agency added.
According to the ED, Pay10, along with ACPL, while operating in the guise of a payment aggregator or payment-gateway platform, facilitated money laundering by on-boarding fake and dubious merchants, generating fraudulent invoices, including GST-related invoices, and “enabling” transactions linked to betting, gaming and cyber-fraud activities.
The agency claimed that proceeds of crime were also generated from activities like online betting, liaisoning, bogus invoices from fictitious garment merchants and certain other crimes.
Cash amounting to Rs 1.4 crore, jewellery and bullion valued at Rs 65 lakh, and digital devices were seized, apart from freezing orders issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for four luxury vehicles linked to Pay10 and ACPL during the searches, the ED said. PTI NES RC
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