City Limouzine Investment finance fraud

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.

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.

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.

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.

Eight Arab sheikhs - five from Oman and three from Qatar - one of them as old as 80, have been arrested by the Hyderabad police in one of the biggest crackdowns on the city's underground network of supplying 'wives' to suitors who can pay. Three Qazis, including a chief Qazi from Mumbai, were also arrested who arranged fake documents to send even underage girls out of the country.

Tajuddin Ahmed a senior police officer, said it was not just the wealthy who come looking for brides here. The brokers classify them as 'autowala', 'ambassador-wala' and 'innovawala' - the third being the category who stay in upmarket hotels, he said.

"An elderly man has come with his son and friend to get married. He came with a marriage certificate. What he wants is a servant who he can use for other purposes as well," he said.

The police say girls were literally paraded before Arab Sheiks, a rate was fixed for them and the Arab would pick and choose depending on what he wanted and how much he could pay. One aspiring groom was 80. Another called Abdullah had sexually exploited as many as 10 girls in the name of marriage.

Last month NDTV had reported how a 16-year-old girl from Hyderabad was lured into marrying a 61-year-old man from Oman. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had responded to her call for rescue and promised to bring her back. An investigation by Hyderabad police on that case led to the unearthing of a huge 'bride bazaar' racket operating almost like a mafia network.

A mother whose daughter was trapped in such a marriage two years ago says the brokers should not be spared. They lure vulnerable girls from poor families by showing them photos of a good life, malls, homes, she said.

"No girl should be sent out of Hyderabad. I know a mother's anguish. My daughter suffered. Don't spare the brokers, they lure you and trap you. Please stop young girls being taken out like this," she said.

Her daughter says she returned after nine months of hell in Oman. The husband who had shown dreams of a comfortable life in Oman, himself had a hand-to-mouth existence in Oman, she says.

"What I suffered only I know. For nine months, I was kept virtually locked up, without even proper food. I fell ill. I was even made to beg," she said.

Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad police commissioner, said as much as policing, social awareness was also necessary. "These unfortunate victims, once they land in Gulf countries, were exploited not just by the husband but many other men," he said.


As many as 35 suspected brokers, agents, lodges have been brought under the radar. They will be geotagged to monitor their activities. Other suggestions include ensuring that the age gap between bride and groom is not more than 10 years, taking the permission of commissioner or Superintendent of Police before conducting such a marriage, after arriving armed with a clearance from their country.

भारत को सूचनाओं के स्वत: आदान-प्रदान (एईओआई) की नई नियमित व्यवस्था के तहत स्विट्जरलैंड के बैंकों में भारतीय नागरिकों के खातों के पहले ब्योरे उपलब्ध करा दिए गए हैं। दोनों देशों के बीच सूचनाओं के स्वत: या स्वचालित आदान-प्रदान की इस व्यवस्था से भारत को विदेशों में अपने नागरिकों द्वारा जमा कराए गए कालेधन के खिलाफ लड़ाई में काफी मदद मिलने की उम्मीद है।
स्विट्जरलैंड के संघीय कर प्रशासन (एफटीए) ने 75 देशों को एईओआई के वैश्विक मानदंडों के तहत वित्तीय खातों के ब्योरे का आदान-प्रदान किया है। भारत भी इनमें शामिल है। एफटीए के प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि भारत को पहली बार एईओआई ढांचे के तहत खातों के बारे में जानकारी प्रदान की गई है।

इसमें उन खातों की सूचना दी जाएगी जो अभी सक्रिय हैं। इसके अलावा उन खातों का ब्योरा भी उपलब्ध कराया जाएगा जो 2018 में बंद किए जा चुके हैं। प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि इस व्यवस्था के तहत अगली सूचना सितंबर, 2020 में साझा की जाएगी।

हालांकि सूचनाओं के इस आदान-प्रदान की कड़े गोपनीयता प्रावधान के तहत निगरानी की जाएगी। एफटीए के अधिकारियों ने भारतीयों के खातों की संख्या या उनके खातों से जुड़ी वित्तीय संपत्तियों का ब्योरा साझा करने से इनकार किया। कुल मिलाकर एफटीए ने भागीदार देशों को 31 लाख वित्तीय खातों की सूचना साझा की है। वहीं स्विट्जरलैंड को करीब 24 लाख खातों की जानकारी प्राप्त हुई है।

साझा की गई सूचना के तहत पहचान, खाता और वित्तीय सूचना शामिल है। इनमें निवासी के देश, नाम, पते और कर पहचान नंबर के साथ वित्तीय संस्थान, खाते में शेष और पूंजीगत आय का ब्योरा दिया गया है। स्विट्जरलैंड सरकार ने अलग से बयान में कहा कि इस साल एईओआई के तहत 75 देशों के साथ सूचना का आदान-प्रदान किया गया है। इनमें से 63 देशों के साथ यह परस्पर आदान-प्रदान है।

करीब 12 देश ऐसे हैं जिनसे स्विट्जरलैंड को सूचना तो प्राप्त हुई है, लेकिन उसने उनको कोई सूचना नहीं भेजी है क्योंकि ये देश गोपनीयता और डेटा सुरक्षा पर अंतरराष्ट्रीय अनिवार्यताओं को पूरा नहीं कर पाए हैं। इन देशों में बेलीज, बुल्गारिया, कोस्टा रिका, कुरासाओ, मोंटेसेराट, रोमानिया, सेंट विन्सेंट, ग्रेनेडाइंस और साइप्रस शामिल हैं।

इसके अलावा बरमूडा, ब्रिटिश वर्जिन आइलैंड, केमैन आइलैंड, तुर्क्स एंड कैकोज आइलैंड आदि देशों ने सूचना नहीं मांगी है, इसलिए उन्हें खातों का ब्योरा साझा नहीं किया गया है। एफटीए ने बैंकों, न्यासों और बीमा कंपनियों सहित करीब 7500 संस्थानों से ये आंकड़े जुटाए हैं। पिछले साल की तरह इस बार भी सबसे अधिक सूचनाओं का आदान-प्रदान जर्मनी को किया गया है। बयान में कहा गया है कि एफटीए वित्तीय संपत्तियों के बारे में कोई सूचना नहीं देता है।

भारत के नागरिकों के बारे मे साझा की गई सूचनाओं के बाबत एफटीए प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि सांख्यिकी आंकड़े भी गोपनीयता के प्रावधान के तहत आते हैं। एफटीए ने कहा कि अगले साल इस व्यवस्था के तहत 90 देशों के साथ सूचनाओं का आदान-प्रदान किया जाएगा।

स्विट्जरलैंड में एईओआई को कानूनी आधार पर पहली बार एक जनवरी, 2017 को क्रियान्वित किया गया था। आदान-प्रदान के जरिए हासिल सूचनाओं के जरिए कर अधिकारी इस बात का पता लगा सकते हैं कि क्या करदाता ने अपने कर रिटर्न में विदेशों में अपने वित्तीय खाते का सही ब्योरा दिया है।

इस व्यवस्था के तहत पहली बार सूचना का आदान-प्रदान सितंबर, 2018 में 36 देशों के साथ किया गया था। आर्थिक सहयोग एवं विकास संगठन का वैश्विक मंच एईआईओ के क्रियान्वयन की समीक्षा करता है। विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि इन सूचनाओं के आधार पर भारत बेहिसाबी धन रखने वाले लोगों के खिलाफ अभियोजन का ठोस मामला बना सकता है।

कई अधिकारियों ने नाम न बताने की शर्त पर कहा कि इस सूची में ज्यादातर उद्योगपतियों के नाम है। इनमें प्रवासी भारतीय (एनआरआई) भी शामिल हैं जो दक्षिण-पूर्व एशियाई देशों, अमेरिका और ब्रिटेन के साथ कुछ अफ्रीकी और दक्षिण अमेरिकी देशों में बस चुके हैं।

The father-son duo of Rakesh and Sarang (Sunny) Wadhawan were among the most powerful and politically connected builders during the Congress-NCP rule.


Their fortunes rose around the time the property market was beginning to heat up in 2003.

Their proximity to several chief ministers and particularly two former Congress MLAs from the western suburbs was a subject of discussion in political circles.

“They were among those builders who moved around with gun-toting security guards and were much feared by their competitors in the real estate industry. It was always rumoured that housing policies generally favoured HDIL, especially when it came to cornering large slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai,” said a developer.

Its biggest bonanza came in 2007 when it bagged the rights to rehouse slumdwellers living on the periphery of the city airport. The builder is believed to have earned Rs 2,000 crore in the form of transfer of development rights (TDR) from this project alone to construct free houses for the slum dwellers. Till date, the encroachers continue to occupy the airport land.

Old-timers in the industry say the Wadhawan family, initially from Delhi, moved to Mumbai in the 1950s.

They found a foothold in the world of construction and land dealings in Vasai-Virar some time in the 1980s when gangster Bhai Thakur ruled the roost in this belt.

By 2010, Forbes featured Rakesh Wadhawan and family on its list of Indian billionaires with a net worth of $1 billion. A year earlier, the Wadhawan family divided its business. Rakesh and his son Sunny retained HDIL while Rakesh’s nephews, Kapil and Dheeraj, launched a new construction firm and took control of Dewan Housing Finance.

Sunny and wife Anu were the toast of B-Town, known for their lavish parties, and were frequently featured as a glam couple in celebrity magazines. Father Rakesh once told this correspondent that his weakness was owning race horses; he was regularly seen at the Mahalaxmi racecourse on big days.

Over a decade ago, sitting in the lobby of a five-star hotel, he took out his diamondencrusted watch to show this correspondent. On Thursday night, the Wadhawans were in the police lockup in the commissionerate compound near Crawford Market.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the withdrawal limit for depositors of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank on Thursday to Rs 25,000 from Rs 10,000 earlier.


On Thursday again, the central bank decided to appoint a three-member committee to assist the bank administrator.

According to RBI, the increase in the limit will enable 70% of the bank’s depositors to withdraw their entire account balance. RBI had placed lending restrictions on the troubled cooperative bank on September 23, restricting withdrawal to Rs 1,000. This limit was increased to Rs 10,000 three days later.

RBI said the decision has been taken after reviewing the bank’s liquidity position and to reduce the hardships faced by depositors.

It reassured depositors that the position continued to be under review and RBI will continue to take necessary steps in the interest of depositors.

A quick resolution will also depend on the fraud-struck bank’s ability to recover funds from its biggest borrower—HDIL group.

Both the bank’s management and the RBI-appointed administrator J B Bhoria said the bank had enough securities against loans.

The administrator has been appointed to operate the bank after the central bank superseded the board using its powers under Section 35 of the Banking Regulation Act.

Bankers said deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh are insured but customers will have to wait until resolution of the case.

Given the size of the bank and the number of institutional accounts, RBI is expected to come out with a resolution quickly to ensure the problems do not pass on to other institutions.

The bank has deposits of 216 urban cooperative banks, 1,754 cooperative credit societies, and 15,000 cooperative housing societies and other institutions. These include deposits totalling Rs 100 crore of the RBI officers cooperative credit society.

Builder Group’s ₹3.5k-Cr Assets ‘Attached’: EOW


Rakesh Wadhawan, executive chairman of HDIL, and his son Sarang aka Sunny, vice-chairman and MD of the real estate group, were arrested on Thursday over their alleged role in the Rs 4,356-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank fraud. The city police’s economic offences wing (EOW) has also provisionally attached residential and commercial projects and land parcels worth over Rs 3,500 crore.


The duo was initially summoned to the EOW headquarters on the police commissionerate compound near Crawford Market. The two reportedly did not cooperate and were placed under arrest on allegations of cheating and criminal conspiracy, according to police officials. “Their interrogation is on,” said EOW chief Rajvardhan Sinha.

Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), which is facing bankruptcy proceedings, and its group companies had taken huge loans from PMC Bank in violation of RBI norms.


PMCB withdrawal limit hiked to ₹25k
RBI on Thursday raised the withdrawal limit for PMC Bank depositors to Rs 25,000 from Rs 10,000. The decision, which will enable 70% of the bank’s customers withdraw their entire balance, is aimed at reducing the hardship of depositors, the RBI said, adding that it came after reviewing the bank’s liquidity position. P 2

EOW searches ex-PMC Bank chairman home

As on March 31, the outstanding loan amount against Rakesh Wadhwan was Rs 1,903 crore and his son Rs 129 crore. That apart, HDIL group had been granted loans totalling Rs 1,306 crore.

The FIR lodged by Jasbir Singh Matta, manager, recovery department, PMC Bank, said the wrongfully advanced loans amounted to Rs 4,355.5 crore. RBI sources said the group’s final total exposure in the bank is yet to be assessed. As many as 21,049 fictitious accounts were allegedly created to hide loans, which the bank disbursed in violation of RBI norms. By doing this, it managed to prevent the loans from showing up as large exposures in its core banking system and avoided RBI probe.

Joy Thomas, suspended MD of PMC, had on September 19 written to the RBI placing the bank’s exposure to the group at over Rs 6,500 crore, representing almost three-fourths of its assets of Rs 8,800 crore, and four times the regulatory cap. Police said they were verifying the titles of the attached properties. “We will file an application before the court to attach these properties which were submitted as collateral with PMC Bank alone and no other bank,” said an officer.

EOW’s special investigation team on Thursday searched the residence of Waryam Singh, former bank chairman, and found details of his demat account. “We have frozen Singh’s Rs 100 crore demat account,” said an officer. Investigators said 44 accounts opened in the name of the accused, HDIL, and entities belonging to the accused, were found to be password-protected. Some of these accounts were opened as early as in 2008. “These accounts were not fouind in bank records. They could be accessed only with passwords by certain confidantes of Thomas. We are interrogating them,” said an officer. Wadhwans are being interrogated by DCP Shrikant Paropkari and inspector Kishor Parab.

On a day a Delhi court extended his judicial custody until October 17, former finance minister P Chidambaram moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the INX Media case. He alleged that the CBI was trying to prolong his judicial custody to humiliate him, and urged that the principle ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ be followed in his case. The former minister has, however, been allowed home-cooked food.


The Congress veteran said the Delhi HC had erred in denying him bail on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations. Appearing for him, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi urged the SC to list the plea for urgent hearing as Chidambaram had been in custody for 42 days and the SC would break for Durga Puja vacation next week.


No court relief for Chinmayanand too
A Bareilly court has extended the judicial custody of former minister Chinmayanand, accused of rape by a UP law student, by 14 days till October 16. Saying Chinmayanand had health issues, his lawyer pleaded that he be shifted from Shahjahanpur jail. P 8

Judicial custody being used as pre-trial punishment: PC

Chidambaram’s plea for bail has been listed for hearing before an SC bench of Justices R Banumathi and Hrishikesh Roy on Friday. On September 5, a bench headed by Justice Banumathi had denied anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the ED.

On Thursday, a Delhi court accepted his plea for home food in jail after Sibal and Singhvi listed out a series of ailments that required him to consume home-cooked food. “He is 74 years of age... is suffering from inflammation of his digestive tract. In these circumstances, it may be conducive to his health condition that he is provided home-cooked food once a day to avoid further deterioration in his health condition,” special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar said. The court, however, clarified that the order could not to be taken as a precedent as the concession for home food was given in the specific circumstances and keeping his medical condition in mind.

In the SC, Sibal and Singhvi argued that the Delhi HC had erred by relying upon “anonymous and unverified allegations” while rejecting Chidambaram’s bail plea on September 30.

“Bail is the rule, jail is the exception. Arrest and custody are a humiliation and social stigma. The prosecution seems to think that prolonged judicial custody is a punishment they can impose on the petitioner. Court should frown upon the attempt of the prosecution to use judicial custody as kind of pre-trial punishment,” Chidambaram said. He also cited his frail health and said he was agreeable to any condition by the court for granting him bail.