ED arrests three promoters of Agri Gold Group in connection to Rs 6,380 Ponzi scam

According to the investigations by the ED based on FIRs lodged in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, Avva Venkata Rama Rao is touted as the perpetrator of the scam, executing it through Agri Gold Group of companies 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified three people in connection to the Ponzi scam involving Agri Gold Group of companies, ED officials said. Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata Seshu Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad have been produced before the ED court in Hyderabad in the scam amounting to Rs 6380 crore.

As of now, the three of them have been granted 14 days of judicial custody. According to the investigations by the ED based on FIRs lodged in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, Avva Venkata Rama Rao is touted as the perpetrator of the scam, executing it through Agri Gold Group of companies. Rama Rao's name has previously been linked to the Golden Forest CIS Fraud scheme as well.

"Having learnt the tricks of the trade in that scheme, Avva Venkata Rama Rao hatched a well planned conspiracy and along with his seven brothers and other associates setting up more than 150 companies and started collecting deposits from general public with a promise of providing developed plots, farm lands or withdrawal at a high rate of return on maturity," said the ED.

According to the agency, commission agents in thousands were party to the scam in that they were luring people into various schemes for hefty commissions in return, clocking Rs 6,380 crore from 32,02,628 investor accounts in consequence. "In the end, the gullible investors neither got plots nor could recover their deposits," an official informed.

Explainer: Jairam Ramesh's apology exposes 70 years of Congress' 'Fake truth'

Ramesh admitted going overboard in making certain insinuations against the Dovals and the Caravan article may have been inappropriate for publication.

People who are reading this for the very first time, Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh offered his apologies to Vivek Doval, son of NSA Ajit Doval for the statements he made during the press-conference on January 17, 2019. Jairam Ramesh accepted that he may have gone overboard in making certain insinuation against the Doval family.

"I would like to offer my apologies to you and your family for any hurt, the statements have caused. I would also urge the INC to remove the press conference from the press releases available on their website" - those were the humble words of veteran politician Jairam Ramesh and one of the most vocal opposition leaders from Congress.

The statement was a far cry from a brutal press conference last year in which Jairam Ramesh demanded that RBI make public the details of FDI inflows from Cayman Islands since demonetisation, which he claimed were to the tune of Rs 8,300 crore during 2017-18 and equalled total funds flowing into India between 2000 to 2017.

Caravan defamation case: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tenders apology to Vivek Doval

Jairam Ramesh was seen crying hoarse last year saying, "This is not FDI, it is round-tripping of demonetised money and has a direct link to black money. There should be a probe into the FDI that came into the country from the Cayman Islands after demonetisation. GNA owes an explanation to the country."

Vivek Doval got short end of the deal in a battle, a political party which had allegedly promulgated the free reign of 'black money' in the Indian economy, and a political party which had finally taken concrete steps to weed out this systemic problem. NSA Ajit Doval, of course, was a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Demonetisation back in 2016.

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NSA Ajit Doval's son Vivek records statement in defamation plea against The Caravan

All of this on the basis of a media report in a news magazine! Ramesh’s big acceptance that he used an article published by 'Caravan' magazine without doing an independent 'Fact Check' and "held a press conference just to gain some mileage during the then Lok Sabha elections", has brought the focus back on the vitriolic campaign being run by the Congress and Left parties against national news channels for promoting the Narendra Modi government’s pro-people agenda.

The Congress leader tendering an apology to NSA Ajit Doval's son Vivek Doval who had filed a criminal defamation case against Ramesh and the Caravan magazine editor, also vindicates the stand taken by national news channels on the issues of paramount national importance, raising hope that none will cry foul now and none will run hashtags like 'Godi Media' and 'Fake News' which checking the basic facts first.

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Article is aimed at running malicious campaign: Vivek Doval

The Congress leader on Saturday accepted that he used an article published by Caravan magazine without doing an independent 'Fact Check' and did a press conference just to gain some mileage during the then Lok Sabha elections.  

Ramesh stated, "I had conducted a press conference on 17 January 2019 making certain statements about you, your family and your business venture GNY Asia Fund. I understand these statements have hurt you deeply."

He added, "I want to clarify that these statements or accusations were made drawing conclusions from an Article that was published the previous day in the Caravan magazine. As the case progressed, I realized that perhaps some independent verification may have been in order."

He said that the General Elections were close, and the questions raised in the article seemed appropriate for being highlighted in public. "In retrospect, I may have gone overboard in making certain insinuations against you and your family," the Congress leader said. The apology was accepted by Vivek Doval, and the Delhi court hearing the matter subsequently closed the case against Jairam Ramesh.  

What is the Caravan defamation case? 

NSA Doval’s son Vivek had in 2019 filed a criminal defamation case against Jairam Ramesh and Caravan magazine Editor-in-Chief Paresh Nath and reporter Kaushal Shroff for damaging his reputation. The suit was filed by Vivek after the Congress leader Jairam Ramesh held a press conference in January 2019 over a report published by news magazine Caravan. Caravan was also named in the suit. 

What were the allegations?

A report published by the news magazine Caravan, claimed that Vivek Doval was running a hedge fund in Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands is known as a tax haven. According to The Caravan magazine report, the hedge fund was registered just 13 days after the demonetisation announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016. 

The same was also linked with the business of Ajit Doval’s elder son Shaurya Doval, who is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and heads the think tank, India Foundation, which is considered close to the Narendra Modi government. 

The Caravan magazine report titled 'The D-Companies', which is usually associated with the network of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, alleged that just 13 days after Prime Minister Modi announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016, Doval's son formed a company named GNY Asia, with the motive of sending and receiving money from abroad. 

However, earlier speaking to Zee News, Vivek Doval said that GNY Asia was started in October 2013, under the banner of Vivam Holding Co Ltd, which started collecting funds in November 2015 itself. The company was also registered in India in August 2016. Calling the allegations baseless, Doval questioned if they knew in 2013 itself about the demonetisation announcement.

The second allegation against the NSA's son was that GNY Asia was connected to his elder brother Shaurya Doval and also with the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Responding to it, Vivek said GNY Asia has no business connection with Shaurya Doval.

He said that he had merely asked for some office space from Shaurya's company ZEUS. He added that help was also sought from two ZEUS employees - Akul Jajharia and Priyanka Dua – who have also been paid a salary of Rs 1,60,000 per month. Talking about the royal family of Saudi Arabia, he said that there were six investors in the company, of which none hailed from the Gulf country. 

On the third allegation that he indulged in business in Cayman Island despite his father Ajit Doval himself mentioning in a report on black money in 2011, that the island was a tax haven, Vivek said that though the place "was named a tax haven, there was no black money involved in his business".  

Investment of as much as Rs 8,300 crore was made in foreign direct investment (FDI) through the Cayman Islands in 2017 and it was alleged that the payment was routed through GNY Asia. Responding to this allegation, Vivek said, "GNY Asia fund started with Rs 77 crore, of which Rs 15 crore was invested in India. But later, our FPI licence was cancelled because SEBI norms required at least 25 investors for the same. Therefore, our India operations ended in August 2017, and later we suffered major losses because of the trade war between China and US. The allegations made by Congress are false." 

The malicious campaign by Congress against the Dovals 

Soon after the Caravan magazine published the report, the Congress party also targeted NSA Doval and his family, accusing Vivek Doval of involvement in Cayman Islands hedge funds. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh made tall claims alleging money laundering through Doval’s son’s company. 

Legal suit by Vivek Doval

Rejecting all allegations as 'baseless', Vivek Doval filed a criminal defamation suit against Jairam Ramesh and the Caravan magazine and its editor. Expressing anguish at the reference of 'D-company' in the article, Vivek told the court that his father had always served the country and even risked his life, fighting enemies of the nation. He said that it was an "attempt to malign his image and that of his brother in front of their father." "We were born in this country and we will die for this country," he added. 

In his complaint, Vivek Doval had said the Caravan magazine and Jairam Ramesh had attempted to "deliberately malign and defame him to settle scores with his father".  The court had taken cognisance of Vivek Doval’s criminal defamation complaint in January 2019 and Ramesh was granted bail in May 2019.

Fight Against 'Fake News'

It was last night only when Zee News Editor-in-Chief, Sudhir Chaudhary explained the real scam behind the allegations of 'Fake news'. It’s a mere coincidence that today a Congress stalwart and ex-Union Minister sought an apology for his "false claims and derogatory remarks".

This is not a case of minute negligence and a mere misconception of facts. This is concrete evidence of how the Congress party and their leaders, for the last 70 years, are administrating 'Fake News' as a manipulative tool to sustain their already shattered vote bank.  

Now the question arises - What if the 'Emergency' was fake news, What if 'Operation Bluestar' happened on an independent thought, What if '2G' really was a bigger scam?  Clearly, this is not just an apology, this is an eye-opener for all the 'Democracy - Bhakts' out there, they now will have to 'Fact Check' the comments of their leaders on sensitive issues and matters of paramount national interest.

Finally, Jairam Ramesh tenders apology 

The apology was accepted by Vivek Doval, and the Delhi court hearing the matter subsequently closed the case against Ramesh. Even though Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta has shut the case against Ramesh, the defamation proceedings against the magazine and journalist Kaushal Shroff will continue.

City Limouzines investors on road to recovery

The multi-crore scam dates back to 2007, when the economic offences wing (EOW) filed cases against City Group companies – City Limouzines, City Realcom and City Hospitalities – for allegedly duping at least 70,000 people.

Fifteen years after losing Rs. 2.9 lakh to the City Limouzines scam, Goregaon resident Ashok Khandekar and thousands of others are now hoping to get back their money. A special court recently made the attachment of 19 properties, 10 bank accounts and six high-end luxurious cars in the case absolute. This means they can now be sold to help those cheated recover their money.

The multi-crore scam dates back to 2007, when the economic offences wing (EOW) filed cases against City Group companies – City Limouzines, City Realcom and City Hospitalities – for allegedly duping at least 70,000 people, promising unrealistic returns and limousines on their investments. The forensic audit of City Limouzines showed that 79,146 people from Mumbai had invested in various schemes launched by the company, but the EOW got only 65,000 complaints.

The report suggests that investors from the city alone had put in around Rs. 980 crore in the company and the firm was liable to pay around Rs. 2,885 crore to them. A total of 132 cases have been registered across the country. The Apex court on May 5, 2015 transferred all cases to special MPID and PMLA Court in Mumbai.

Recounting the ordeal, Khandekar said he was drawn in by the possibility of earning profits on an investment and getting a car in return. “I learned about the scheme through a newspaper advertisement in 2002. It said we would get a car on a down payment of Rs. 1.5 lakh, and by paying monthly instalments of Rs. 5,000 for four years. The condition was the car would be used by the company for four to five years, but we would get the ownership,” he said.

He said he got a car in 2004, but it was registered in the name of the trustee or director of the company. In 2005, he got a call from the police stating the car was stolen. This was the beginning of the fall of the Limouzine Empire. “We believed in the scheme as initially they refunded money and some from our locality also got a car. But later, something went wrong. Nobody got their money back. I approached the police also,” he said.

Khandekar is now listed as one of the victims of the scheme and is among the witnesses mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the EOW. “Initially I fought with the help of my lawyer, but later I decided to move on,” Khandekar said.

The order making the attachment absolute was passed in January, but its copy was made available to the authorities last week. The competent authority will now begin the process of recovery of money from the properties through auction. “Our first aim is to return the money to investors. After the order, the competent authority will dispose of the properties and the collected money will be distributed among investors,” said Umeshchandra Yadav Patil, special public prosecutor representing EOW of the Mumbai police.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/city-limouzines-investors-on-road-to-recovery/story-vADcYZzjp2ZorzAIXXSjcK.html

Tuticorin custodial death: Witness intimidated, CCTV footage erased, says Magistrate’s letter to HC

A three-page report by the Magistrate to the court registrar has revealed that the cops were lax in their response and even verbally abused the official.

Despite the widespread outrage over the alleged death of Jayaraj and Bennix in Police custody in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, the cops at the police station refused to cooperate with the Magistrate who had gone there for investigation.

A three-page report by the Magistrate to the Madras High Court registrar has revealed that the cops were lax in their response and even verbally abused the official.

During his visit to the Sathankulam station on June 28, Kovilpatti Magistrate MS Bharathidasan, claims in a report that his presence was not acknowledged or welcomed from the very time he entered the station with his staff. The station visit was meant to record the statements of police officers and gather crucial evidence.

“ADSP D Kumar and DSP Prathapan who were there failed to salute or acknowledge my presence. D Kumar exhibited a muscle-flexing kind of body language and when asked for case-related documents he disrespectfully addressed the other cops and asked them to bring it,” reads the report.

However, there was a female cop in the station who is an eyewitness in this case. She divulged the information only after initially expressing serious apprehension and reluctance.

The female cop has revealed that the father-son duo was beaten through the night, adding that the lathis (batons) and tables in the station had blood stains on them. She also urged the magistrate to confiscate these objects before the evidence is destroyed.

The Magistrate’s report states that the lady cop feared about the repercussions and backlash she would have to face from her colleagues for testifying in this case. She had also requested the Magistrate to not reveal her identity or that she had given statements about the June 19 incident. On the order of the magistrate, others were taken outside the station, in order to prevent them from listening to her statement. But even outside the station, they had created a ruckus and attempted to disrupt the process.

On learning that the batons(lathis) are crucial evidence, when the Magistrate demanded for them to be handed over, the cops didn’t cooperate. They initially behaved as though they didn’t hear the orders and only handed them over after the Magistrate insisted, the report states.

“A policeman named Maharaja said- 'you can't do anything', in an insulting manner. He also said that his lathi was in his hometown and later said that it was in the Police quarters. He walked around in all directions without any regard to the investigation and said he didn’t have a lathi at all,” as per the report. It adds that another cop jumped the over the compound wall and escaped when asked

On examination by relevant experts, it was found that the CCTV footage from within the station was missing. “Despite the hard disk has 1TB storage, the settings were in such a manner that the daily files would get auto-deleted. There was no data of any recording since June 19 and it was all erased,” said the Magistrate. He also confiscated the Hard disk as it would contain important evidence.

Even while leaving from the station, the Magistrate says policemen in the station were filming videos and threatening the court staff. Later, he submitted details of the inquiry via telephone to the District Magistrate.

Hearing the father-son custodial deaths case that took place in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin district, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has said that there are grounds to book the Sathankulam police under Section 302 (murder) on the basis of the Post mortem report. Three Police personnel including an ASP, DSP and constable also appeared for the hearing as they allegedly hindered the investigation by the Magistrate.

The three cops who were asked to appear for Contempt of Court have been served a notice and given three weeks to respond.

The court has also handed over the investigation to DSP, CB-CID after it expressed concern over the likelihood of destruction of evidence before the case of the custodial death is taken over by the CBI.

A Division Bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice B Pugalendhi asked the Tamil Nadu government to respond on whether the CB-CID or the DIG, Tirunelveli range would handle the investigation until the CBI takes it over.

Representing the state government, Additional Advocate General K Chellapandian informed the court that the DIG Tirunelveli range would take over the investigation.

The judges, however, directed the Tirunelveli DSP, CB-CID to take over the case as an interim arrangement.

The judged added that they did not want to have any delay in this case, which would further lead to an erosion of public trust.

PNB scam: Court allows confiscation of Nirav Modi's assets worth Rs 1,400 crore Modi is a key accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB scam and fled the country before the fraud came to light.

A special PMLA court in Mumbai on Monday allowed the confiscation of assets worth Rs 1,400 crore owned by Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Nirav Modi.

The diamantaire is a key accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB scam and fled the country before the fraud came to light. 

The order was passed on a plea of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) which was enacted two years ago to deal with such crimes. This is the first order of confiscation passed under the FEO Act anywhere in the country.

Special Judge V C Barde permitted the ED to confiscate those assets owned by Nirav Modi that are not mortgaged or hypothecated to the PNB. 

The ED said the value of the properties seized under the act is more than Rs 1,400 crore.

In his order, the judge said the assets shall be attached by the ED under the provisions of the FEO Act within one month.

After that, the said properties/assets shall stand confiscated to the Central Government under section 12(2) and 8 of the FEO Act, he added. 

The court also gave permission to the banks to lay claims for secured /hypothecated assets out of these confiscated assets before the appropriate judicial forum.

Nirav Modi was declared fugitive offender on December 5, 2019. Last year, he was arrested in London and is presently in a UK prison after his several bail applications were rejected.

Cybercriminals leak personal details of 2.9 crore Indians on dark web The zipped file reveals a lot of personal details--education, address, etc--of millions of Indians Job seekers

Cyble, a third-party cyber risk intelligence platform, conducted a regular sweep of the deep web and dark web and found that personal details of 9 Million Indian Job Seekers from the various states were released in the aforementioned platforms.

“Cyble researchers have identified a sensitive data breach on the dark web where an actor has leaked personal details of 29 Million Indian Job Seekers from the various states. The original leak appears to be from a resume aggregator service collecting data from various known job portals. Cyble’s team is still investigating this further and will be updating their article as they bring more facts to the surface," an official press release from the by Cyble stated.

The researchers found that a 'threat actor' posted a 2.3 GB (zipped) file on one of the hacking forums. Cybele's official website states that the zip file must have originated from a resume aggregator.

The zipped file reveals a lot of personal details--education, address, etc--of millions of Indians Job seekers."This breach includes sensitive information such as email, phone, home address, qualification, work experience etc," Cyble's official website stated.

Cyble has indexed the leaked information at AmIbreached.com. The concerned people can access the information by registering at the official website.

The intelligence firm conducts these routine searches ver the deep web and dark web to keep tabs on cybercriminals conducting nefarious activities such as identity thefts, scams, and corporate espionage, to steal personal information.

AgustaWestland case: CBI court allows further interrogation of alleged middleman Christian Michel Special Judge Pulastya Pramachala on Saturday gave the order, allowing the ED to interrogate Michel in the jail premises.

CBI Special Court has allowed Enforcement Directorate (ED) to further interrogate Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, in Tihar jail.

Michel was extradited from Dubai last year and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. 

The court has allowed the ED to visit Tihar jail on May 25, 2020, from 10.00 AM to 1:30 PM, and May 26, from 2.30 P.M. to 5.00 P.M., to interrogate him in presence of jail superintendent or his authorised official.  

Special Judge Pulastya Pramachala on Saturday gave the order, allowing the ED to interrogate Michel in the jail premises.

The court allowed the ED’s plea moved by the agency’s special public prosecutor N K Matta after he submitted during a hearing held through video conferencing that the accused was required to be confronted with certain documents during its ongoing probe in the case.

Michel, a British national extradited from Dubai in December, is one of the three middlemen being investigated for organising bribes to push the deal with decision-makers in India. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. In January, Michael was sent to judicial custody in the ED case. He is also lodged in Tihar jail due to a CBI case related to the scam.

The  AgustaWestland case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland.

The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over the alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.