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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted fresh searches against two companies and persons linked to them as part of a money laundering investigation against entities owned by Chinese nationals.
According to the agency, the companies and the individuals are involved in lending money through mobile phone apps and later harassing borrowers by accessing their personal details. The federal agency said that the searches were undertaken on December 21 last year at 19 locations in Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat against Shinebay Technology India Private Limited (STIPL), Mpurse Services Private Limited (MSPL) and others which are owned and controlled by Chinese Nationals. During the search operations, cash of Rs.1.30 Crore was recovered and seized. Further, various incriminating documents and digital records were also recovered and seized, it added. ED initiated an investigation on the basis of FIRs registered against several companies and persons in Bengaluru, Kazipet, and Jangaon under various sections of IPC, 1860 and IT Act, 2000 for charging very high and exploitative rate of interest on loans given and harassing the customers by way of threatening and abusing them over the phone and unauthorized access to their personal information and data and circulating morphed photographs of the borrowers as well as their family members to their contacts. ED investigation revealed that Fintech Companies, NBFCs and Payment Aggregators and Gateways in collaboration, owned and controlled by Chinese nationals, were providing online short-term instant loans through mobile apps and they were charging exorbitant rates of interest on loans given to needy people and also harassing customers by engaging in deceptive and unethical practices like unauthorized accessing the borrower's photo gallery and phone contact list, levying exploitative rate of interest and processing fee, resorting to systematic abuse and threatening in case of failure of repayment by the borrower, intentional leaking of borrowers data, circulating morphed photographs of the borrower to its contacts, sending fake legal notices etc. Such companies have employed dummy directors and subscribers in India to conduct business on behalf of Chinese individuals and companies. It further said that the Chinese nationals created a complex web of Fintech Companies and NBFCs in India with the help of professionals such as chartered accountants, lawyers, company secretaries, consultants etc. In this case, ED had earlier conducted search operations on June 14 last year at six locations and various incriminating documents, digital devices, bank accounts and fixed deposits containing a balance of Rs 19.43 crore were recovered and seized and frozen. (ANI)
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