The ED intercepted Rafiq Khan at the Jaipur airport in Rajasthan and arrested him in a money laundering case linked to the duping of US citizens under the pretext of providing loans.
Rajasthan News: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday said they arrested a man accused of scamming American citizens via call centres by them promising loans at lower interest rates. The ED, which probes financial crimes, intercepted the accused, Rafiq Khan, at the Jaipur airport in Rajasthan, and arrested him in a money laundering case linked to the duping of US citizens under the pretext of providing loans, the agency said in a statement on Friday.
The central probe agency said that Khan, who was absconding since the ED cracked down on his co-conspirators earlier, was trying to flee the country to to Sharjah in the UAE, when he was intercepted and taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) earlier this week.
Rafiq Khan is one of the co-conspirators behind some fake call centres that cheated US citizens in the guise of loans that were being dished out at cheaper rates of interest, the ED said in a statement, adding that the agency had earlier arrested three other accused– Shahanawaz Ahmed Jeelani, Vipin Kumar Sharma and Viraj Singh Kuntal, in the case.
They are in judicial custody and a charge sheet under the PMLA was filed against them in August 2023, the probe agency said.
‘Planned conspiracy’
As per details provided by various law enforcement agencies, the ED’s case case stems from various FIRs of the Rajasthan Police’s Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Special Operations Group (SOG).
The probe agency said the accused had hatched a “well-planned conspiracy” to dupe foreigners via call centres and US-based bank accounts which were being operated from various places in India.
“There was a well-planned conspiracy by the accused to defraud foreign nationals by opening virtual call centres and bank accounts in the USA which were being operated from Jaipur, Mohali, Mathura and some other parts of India,” it said.
“The proceeds of crime generated had been routed through various Indian and foreign bank accounts opened in the name of accused persons and shell companies registered by them,” the agency alleged.
It said the proceeds of crime generated in this case were “ultimately invested in properties to project them as genuine and untainted.”
(With PTI inputs)
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