Nigerian couple, aide cheat 57-year-old of ₹74 lakh, arrested

The city cyber police on Saturday arrested three people – a Nigerian couple and an auto rickshaw driver from Navi Mumbai – for cheating a 57-year-old Mahim resident of ₹74 lakh.

According to the complainant, the accused befriended her on social media in December 2017. The accused allegedly asked her for money under several pretexts. She transferred a total of ₹74.20 lakh till June 2018.

Investigation has revealed that the driver, Ashok Borade, 40, had allowed the couple to use his bank account, in exchange for a hefty commission. The couple has been identified as Amra Obesoque, 32 and his wife Khristabel Libeh, 30.

In December 2017, the woman received a friend request from one of the accused, claiming he was a marine engineer named Donald Tod, based in the US. Over the next few months, she transferred money to him for various reasons.

“On one such occasion, the accused told the woman that he had sent jewellery and cash to India, but it had been intercepted by custom officials. He asked her to send him money to pay the officials,” said Vishal Thakur deputy commissioner of police (cyber).

Thakur added that the accused promised to pay the woman back in double and also that he would send her £20,000 (₹18 lakh) so she could fly to America.

After the accused started avoiding her, she approached the police station on June 23, 2018.

During investigations, police found 30 bank accounts registered in the names of individuals based in Mizoram, Delhi and Hyderabad. Police learnt that these accounts had been created by forging documents.

The police also learnt that there was a group of auto rickshaw and taxi drivers in Navi Mumbai, who volunteered to let the accused use their bank accounts for the fraudulent transactions.

After tracking down Borade, the police raided the couple’s residence in Ulve, Navi Mumbai, and recovered 13 mobile phones, a modem, a router and a laptop. They are now trying to trace the other accused.

Gang dupes many with job offers in auto major

A gang that used to impersonate as representatives of a leading corporate and dupe youths by offering them jobs has been busted. The Mumbai’s police’s cyber unit, along with officials of Rajouri police station in New Delhi, raided a call centre in the national capital recently and arrested Vipin Rajpalsingh Yadav and Mohit Rakumar Yadav. The police said that hunt is on for other members of the gang. They seized 22 mobile phones, SIM cards, bank passbooks, two computers, routers, printers and digital notebooks containing list of victims from the accused’s Rajouri Garden call centre.


An official said that the gang would email youngsters seeking jobs on social media and lure them with supervisors’ posts in the auto major. “The accused had created an email address similar to that of corporate and used it to communicate with the victims. They would email appointment letters and seek a security deposit of Rs 25,000,” he said.

Recently, one Payal Gupta asked a victim to deposit Rs 3,400 in a bank account. “Later, the victim got a selection letter with the company logo stating that she has been appointed supervisor in the company’s Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) unit with a monthly salary of Rs 25,500. The letter stated that the victim should contact HR manager Aditi Lochab. But when the victim called up Lochab, another Rs 17,000 was demanded. The victim was told the money will be reimbursed in the first salary. But when, after a month, no appointment letter arrived, the victim contacted the corporate’s head office in Mumbai, only to realise it was a con.” A senior executive of the company then lodged a complaint with the cyber police and the IP address for the computer used to send emails was traced to Delhi.

Eleven staffers found working at the call centre said they were unaware about their work being illegal, said the police. Their statements were recorded and they were allowed to go.

Arjun Sawant, proprietor of Arrows Dynamic Enterprise, Man in ₹3cr Ponzi case lands in city cops’ net

Mumbai:

The city police arrested Arjun Sawant, proprietor of Arrows Dynamic Enterprise, in a Rs 20 crore cheating case where he along with his wife, Vaidehi, promised gullible investors 48% annual returns on investments. Sawant’s wife is also an accused in this case and yet to be arrested. The cheating amount is over Rs 3.2 crore. However, the police feel it could go up to Rs 20 crore when more investors come forward.


The accused husband andwife duo were booked by the police for luring investors to invest in fixed deposits in their real estate firm. Sawant was first arrested by the Sindhudurg economic offences wing (EOW) for a similar offence registered against him there. The EOW took his custody on Tuesday in its case. He was brought from a Sindhudurg jail to Mumbai where the court remanded him in police custody till March 13.

Sawant had his office in Bhandup from where he ran the scheme. Rajendra Deshmukh, a Chunabhatti resident, lodged the complaint with the Kanjur Marg police and the case was transferred to the EOW. “The accused couple collected money under the garb of FDs and promsied 4% monthly returns on the FDs. They did not advertise their schemes in newspapers but preferred word-ofmouth publicity. The firm is neither a limited company nor registered under the Companies Act. They had collected the deposits illegally,” said an officer. The depositors include mostly the working class people from suburban Mumbai.

Information on the internet about Arrows Dynamic Enterprise says it was established in 2009 and is in the list of top service providers of conveyor and industrial belts.

Agent in ₹135 crore land sale con held

Mumbai:

A real estate agent, Mohammed Aslam Karim


(45), was arrested at the city airport for allegedly duping a Bengaluru-based company by of Rs 135 crore by trying to sell a plot of land in Bengaluru by handing over forged documents. It turns out that the land on offer belongs to the government. Karim was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police while he was about to fly to Dubai. A lookout notice had been issued against him by the Mumbai police, said sources.

the dealing took place in Mumbai. The company, Greenfield, had lodged a complaint alleging that in 2009 Karim and two others—A N Srinivas swamy and K Munniraj Kempanna—had approached Hardeep Sahani of Greenfield to sell the plot. The company had given a power of attorney to its official VenkateshRao Mutta, said officials from EOW’shousing unit.

“It is alleged that the accused sold the land for Rs 135 crore, but did not register it. It later emerged that the plot belongs to the government and was classified as a ‘green zone’.” said an officer.

The company wanted to develop the plot into a township and even got into a development agreement with ‘Employees’ Welfare Fund, Hindustan Aeronautics Bangalore’. However, when its officials later learnt that the property was a ‘reserved’ plot. The company officials then lodged a private complaint at the Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court. A police probe revealed Mutta’s involvement and he was arrested in 2013.

VVIP chopper scam: Delhi court reserves Gautam Khaitan bail order

Gautam Khaitan's bail order will be pronounced on February 19 after arguements on the bail were heard in a Delhi court on Friday.

Khargumentsaccused in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper scam is also an accused in a fresh Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

After hearing the arguments from the prosecution and the defence, the court reserved the order for February 19. During the hearing, Khaitan's lawyer Siddhartha Luthra said the account numbers which the ED have mentioned in the reply opposing the bail are accounts which have already been closed earlier.


"How can he be prosecuted when the accounts listed by the probing agency were closed by the Income Tax Department earlier. The details of the searches conducted have not been clearly given. The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) has been denied to me as well. The ED had all the relevant documents and the details and yet have not found anything substantial," said Luthra.

He further added that this is a case of malicious and unjustified arrest. The ED informed the court that three more accounts have surfaced during the investigation. The investigating agency claimed that Khaitan's income tax accounts and bank details are in variance.

Bikaner land case: ED attaches assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of Robert Vadra's company

Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of Robert Vadra's company


The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam money laundering case.

"The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the agency said.

The ED issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It had grilled Vadra in this case in Jaipur twice last week. His mother Maureen was also asked to depose but was allowed to go after completion of brief legal procedures.


The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border.

Probe revealed, the ED said, that the central government had acquired land of as many as 34 villages in Bikaner district for the purpose of establishment of Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) and the state government proposed for rehabilitation of the displaced people by providing land equivalent to their acquired land.

"Fraudster Jai Prakash Bagrwa and others in collusion with state government officials got 1,422 bigha government land illegally allotted to fictitious persons in guise of a government scheme for people displaced due to establishment of MFFR and illegally sold 1,372 bigha out of this land to various persons and companies," it said. On detection of fraud, impugned land was recorded back as government land in revenue records by Rajasthan great, the ED said.

Subsequently, it said, these impugned fraudulent lands were further sold by subsequent purchasers to individuals and companies and all these subsequent sellers of the impugned land generated a considerable amount of profit.

"These fraudulently generated profit by these entities is nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under the PMLA and Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd had purchased 275 Bigha (69.55 hectare) fraudulent land for Rs 72 lakh and sold the same for Rs 5.15 crore to Allegeny Finlease (P) Ltd and illegally generated profit of Rs 4.43 crore," he said.


Four other individuals had also generated profit of Rs 18.59 lakh in sale of impugned fraudulent land, it said. The ED has filed charge sheet in this case against 9 accused and the total attachment in this case stands at Rs 6.44 crore now.

CBI team attacked by a family of accused in YEIDA land scam

A five-member team of CBI officials, including a woman constable, was attacked allegedly by relatives of an accused, also a CBI official, in a 2014-land fraud case from his village in Greater Noida on Saturday. Police have arrested a man in connection with the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing a 2014 case of alleged land fraud, amounting to Rs 126 crore, linked to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).

According to the police, the incident occurred on Saturday morning when the sleuths reached Sonpura village to look for the accused when his relatives attacked them.


"We were informed about the family and relatives of the accused misbehaving with CBI officials. The police reached the spot and detained some persons from the spot. A case has been registered and legal proceedings are underway," said Vaibhav Krishna, SSP Gautam Budh Nagar.

Police said the relatives have been charged with holding government officials hostage, assaulting them and obstructing government officials' work.

" A couple of CBI officials were injured during the scuffle with the relatives, who forced the sleuths inside a private property in Sonpura village and beat them up with sticks and bare hands to help the accused escape, the agency said in a statement issued in Delhi," said Krishna.

The CBI officials alleged that mobile phones, ID cards of some members were burnt by the attacker on February 3, the agency booked two of its officials posted in Ghaziabad, both of who were probing the case, on charges of criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The accused CBI Inspector VS Rathore was arrested while ASI Sunil Dutt has been absconding. However, Dutt's brother Yudhveer Singh has been arrested, police said. According to police, some YEIDA officials, including its former CEO PC Gupta, in association with private firms, had purchased around 57 hectares "useless" land in 2014 in seven villages of Mathura in lieu of compensation to their owners by the Authority.

At least six people have been arrested in the five-year-old case in which 21 people have been named as accused, police said.


Crime Sheet
At least six people have been arrested in the five-year-old case in which 21 people have been named as accused. The accused CBI Inspector VS Rathore was arrested while ASI Sunil Dutt has been absconding.

QNet scam: Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff, Boman Irani and 500 others issued notices by Police

Notices have been issued to about 500 people, including top film actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani and Jackie Shroff, to provide details on payments they allegedly received from QNet and Vihaan Direct Selling Private Limited, a senior police official said on Wednesday. The case pertains to alleged "cheating" by the Vihaan Direct Selling Private Limited Company, a sub-franchise of QI Group in India, marketing under the brand name of Qnet.

Police recently said several people were arrested for alleged involvement in the 'QNet scam' in which lakhs of people across the country were "cheated" of crores of rupees. However, Qnet has refuted the allegation and said their business was legitimate.

Notices will be issued to actors Anil Kapoor, Allu Sirish and cricketer Yuvraj Singh also, the official added. "During our investigation in the Qnet case, we have found that some celebrities participated in a few promotional activities by the company. We asked them to explain us before March 4 on the remuneration and perks they received for their participation," the official said.


Notices have been served through their WhatsApp numbers under Section 91 of the CrPC (production of any document or another thing necessary or desirable for the purposes of any investigation), according to the official. Those who received notices can submit their details through their representatives and need not to appear personally before the police, the official clarified.

Police had earlier said a nationwide probe has been launched to nab the main perpetrators behind the multi-crore rupee fraud, allegedly committed by marketing firm QNet.

Shah Rukh Khan and Anil Kapoor served notice for their alleged involvement in Qnet scam

Cyberabad Police has served notices to prominent Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Boman Irani and others for their alleged involvement in the multicrore Qnet scam, according to sources. A notice was also served to cricketer Yuvraj Singh and Tollywood actors Allu Sirish and Pooja Hegde in connection with the case, the source added.

According to sources, since last two days, Cyberabad Police has served notices to around 500 members in the Qnet scam registered in Cyberabad earlier. Till now, the police also arrested nearly 60 accused persons who are involved in the case. It has been alleged that these actors have promoted the company by taking remuneration.

As per sources, Cyberabad Police have given a week's time to the alleged accused and asked them to appear before the police by March 4. The police have also mentioned in the notices that if they failed to appear, legal action will be initiated against them. 


According to reports, QNet was accused of running one of the biggest Ponzi scams in India, cheating at least three lakh people. The racket was busted by the sleuths of Cyberabad in various parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bengaluru and Delhi in which 57 persons were arrested in 14 cases registered against QNet.

"There are a total of 30 cases registered on QNet in Cyberabad. There are eight cases which are under investigation with CID," VC Sajjanar, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad told reporters on January 8, 2019.

"QNet is a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing company owned by the QI group. The company invoked many Ponzi schemes and binary schemes, vacation packages and business tactics which were illegal," he further said.

QNet is the main subsidiary of the QI group of companies founded by Vijay Eshwaran and Joseph Bismark in Hong Kong in 1998. The company's CEO Micheal Ferreira and Malcolm Desai are the shareholders of Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd. Now, the company has opened its branches all across the world.

Not just PNB, Mehul Choksi conned Wells Fargo, Gordon Brothers, too

It is not just Punjab National Bank (PNB) that was a victim of fraud. Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi and an international web of co-conspirators used his US company Samuels Jewelers and a series of puppet vendors, including a psychologist, to fraudulently induce Samuels's primary lenders. As a result, America's Wells Fargo and Gordon Brothers were manipulated so as to unknowingly authorise tens of millions of dollars of credit line advances which were ultimately funnelled outside the US to Choksi-controlled entities in India, Dubai and Hong Kong, a bankruptcy court-appointed examiner's phase 1 report has revealed.

These findings paint a clear picture of the US-based bank fraud by Choksi and his henchmen who are already connected to the largest bank fraud in Indian history masterminded by Choksi's nephew Nirav Modi.

Texas-based Samuels Jewelers, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings in August last year, is already linked to the multi-billion dollar scam that involved fraudulently borrowing from Indian banks over a period of years using Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs). A 30% owner and former chairman of Samuels and the parent Gitanjali group of companies, Choksi, now on the run, has been charged by Indian authorities for his role in the alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud on PNB.


In the case of Samuels and American lenders, Choksi and an international web of co-conspirators created the false appearance that Samuels was purchasing and/or selling jewellery to and from unrelated third-parties. In fact, Samuels and related entities were secretly selling inventory and laundering money among themselves at the direction of Choksi and individuals under his control, the examiner's report concluded.

"These disguised transactions accounted for approximately $121 million worth of reported purchases and sales. At least one primary goal of the deception was an apparent scheme to fraudulently induce Samuels's primary lenders, Wells Fargo and Gordon Brothers, to authorise tens of millions of dollars of credit line advances which were ultimately funneled outside the US to Choksi-controlled entities in India, Dubai and Hong Kong," examiner John J. Carney's report says.

Among the puppet vendors employed by Choksi was Exclusive Design Direct Inc (EDD) reflected in Samuels's records as one of its largest independent inventory suppliers. "...in reality (it was) a one-person front company run out of a psychologist's office in Sterling Heights, Michigan. No inventory was shipped from this vendor and Choksi and his co-conspirators issued tens of millions of dollars in invoices on EDD's behalf and caused tens of millions of dollars to be transferred from Samuels's bank accounts to EDD. The psychologist, who controlled the EDD bank account, was promised a 1% fee for laundering the money. Nearly 100% of these laundered funds have been traced back to Choksi controlled entities," the report said.

Many Choksi entities were Hong Kong companies established by Choksi to appear as if they were unaffiliated third parties, but were staffed by Gitanjali employees and run out of the offices of a Gitanjali affiliate.

During his investigation, the examiner also found that Samuels Jewelers purportedly independent jewellery grading laboratory was, in fact, an entity secretly controlled by Choksi. Disguised through a British Virgin Islands entity, Choksi owned 99.99% of Independent Gemological Laboratories, the diamond grading company that Samuels advertised to its customers as providing them with “independent” verification of merchandise's quality and value.

Investigating the truth of allegations of bank fraud in India was beyond the scope of the examiner's charge, the report said. Nonetheless, the investigation has revealed credible evidence consistent both with the occurrence of the fraud alleged and with the Samuels Jewelers' involvement and assistance with this fraud. The examiner was able to trace millions of dollars procured from the US lenders that Samuels transferred via puppet vendors to Choksi controlled entities and ultimately to repayment of FLCs in India.

Additionally, evidence gathered in the investigation by the US examiner confirms that Choksi and entities and individuals under his control influenced Samuels Jewelers prior to the Chapter 11 proceeding.

THE MODUS OPERANDI
Choksi and an international web of co-conspirators created the false appearance that Samuels was purchasing and/or selling jewellery to and from unrelated third-parties 
In fact, Samuels and related entities were secretly selling inventory and laundering money among themselves at the direction of Choksi and individuals under his control 
Choksi owned 99.99% of Independent Gemological Laboratories, a diamond grading company that Samuels advertised provided “independent” verification of merchandise’s quality
$121 mn – worth of disguised purchase and sales transactions

30% – stake owned by Mehul Choksi in Samuels Jewelers


Rs 13,580 cr – size of the PNB scam perpetrated by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi 

Cash prize for winning World Cup 2019 lottery or competition? ICC warns against scam

Cash prize for winning World Cup 2019 lottery or competition? ICC warns against scam

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned cricket fans against scams claiming to be associated with the World Cup 2019.

DNA Web Team Feb 28, 2019, 03:49 PM IST
If you have got any mail or message saying you have won a won a cash prize via a lottery or competition related to ICC World Cup 2019, it is most likely to be a scam.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned cricket fans against scams claiming to be associated with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, starting May 30 in England.

ICC said that previous major sporting events have also been targeted in this way. Illegal scammers contact people, usually through email, claiming that they have won a cash prize via a lottery or competition, requiring the person to share a range of personal information, including their name, age, bank account and passport details. The victim is often asked to pay a fee to obtain the prize money.

1. What did ICC say

ICC stressed there is no such competition, lottery or promotion associated with it or the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. Any approach via email in the UK should be reported to Action Fraud while outside of the UK should be reported to ICC Enquiry.

2. What should you do after getting such email

What should you do after getting such email
According to ICC, you should never respond to any such communication. If you haven’t entered a lottery then you can’t have won it. Never, ever disclose your bank details or pay fees in advance.

ICC also said online resources are available to give advice if you have received a similar correspondence or have responded to a potential scam. If you are unsure whether you have been a victim of fraud, you can find more information on the correct action and how to protect yourself online on Action Fraud or by contacting your local authorities.

3. How to identify a scam

How to identify a scam
Official lottery operators don't ask for fees to collect winnings. Any request for fee payment is a good indication that someone is trying to defraud you.

If an email address has been provided to respond to, be very suspicious of addresses such as @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com or numbers beginning with 07 because these are free to get hold of.

Genuine lotteries thrive on publicity. If they ask you to keep your win a secret, it’s likely to be a fraud.

Many fraudulent lotteries have bad spelling and grammar – see this as a warning that fraudsters are at work.

4. About ICC World Cup 2019

The ICC World Cup 2019 tournament will run from 30 May to 14 July. The semifinals will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester and Edgbaston in Birmingham on 9 and 11 July respectively, while Lord’s will host the final on 14 July. The 10 teams in the tournament will play against each other in a single-league format, with the top four sides after 45 matches to qualify for the two semi-finals.