The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted search operations on 12 entities in Bengaluru allegedly involved in a part-time job fraud case and seized ₹5.85 crore under section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
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The ED initiated money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered in South CEN police station, Bengaluru, in the matter related to part-time job fraud.
Bank accounts opened
“Investigations under PMLA revealed that gullible public, mostly youth, were cheated by some Chinese persons using a mobile app, ‘Keepsharer’, which promised to give part-time job and collected money from them. These Chinese persons formed companies in India and recruited many Indians as directors, translators (for translating Mandarin to English and vice versa), HR Manager and tele callers,” said an ED release.
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The release further said they obtained documents of Indian persons and opened bank accounts by using their documents. “The accused Chinese persons developed a mobile app in the name of Keepsharer and advertised through WhatsApp and Telegram by offering part-time job opportunity to the youth. This app was linked with an investment app. For registration on this app, they collected money from youth,” it said.
Further, they collected money from the general public also in the name of investment through this app. The youth were given the task of liking the videos of celebrities and uploading them on social media. When the task was completed, they used to pay ₹20 per video and that will be credited in the Keepsharer wallet, the release added.
Money converted to cryptocurrency
“For some time, money got credited in their wallet. Later on, the app was removed from the app store. Thus, public was cheated with their investment amount and the remuneration to be paid, which run into crores of rupees. The money collected through scam was routed from the bank accounts of some Bengaluru based companies and then converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to China based crypto exchanges. All the transactions were under control of Chinese persons through phone and WhatsApp groups,” added the release.
As per the charge sheet filed by the police, out of 92 accused persons, six persons are citizens of China and Taiwan who were controlling the entire scam, said the ED, adding that further investigation is under progress.