3 more held for loan app fraud in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 4

The UT police have arrested three more suspects in the instant loan app fraud case. The suspects are Madhukar Dubey (38) and Rajesh Mathur (40), both residents of Ghaziabad, and C Chinnasamy Sellappan from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu.

A sum of Rs 17.31 lakh allegedly made by duping people has been recovered from those arrested. Also, 20 bank accounts containing Rs 60 lakh have been frozen. Further, 41 mobile phones and nine laptops have been recovered from the suspects.

The police said analyses of money flow to different bank accounts/UPI IDs suggested the amount was transferred to fake bank accounts of shell/fake companies managed by the suspects. The police have also found money laundering and pan-India hawala transactions by the suspects.

Investigations revealed the suspects were taking GST benefits by way of multiple transactions in different shell/fake companies.

"We are writing to the department concerned for further investigation. Suspicious role of some bank officials/managers has also come to the fore and we will verify this," said an official.

Further, notices have been issued to certain companies/ firms, allegedly involved in the flow of ill-gotten money, to join investigation.

On September 12, the Cyber Crime Cell of the UT police had claimed to have arrested 21 members of the gang, including a Chinese national living illegally in India, for duping people on the pretext of providing them instant online loan and extorting money.

The modus operandi involved offering victims instant loan through SMS or FB. Once clicking the link, 'Hugo Loan' app got installed, giving suspects access to victims' contacts, gallery. A small loan amount was deposited to the account. Even if the money was repaid, threat calls were made asking for more money or morphed photos would be shared with contacts.

Pan-India scam

29 of 60 suspects held from six states

1,578 linkages found across country

89 FIRs lodged across country so far

Party under radar

The president of the Bhartiya Rajnitik Vikalp Party (BRVP) has been asked to join investigation as some amount had been transferred from suspect bank accounts to the party’s account.

2 of them hawala operators

• Madhukar Dubey made transferred Rs 30-40 cr to shell firms through hawala
• Rajesh Mathur handled Rs 40-50 cr hawala transactions in 2-3 yrs
• Rs 15 cr were transferred to account of C Chinnasamy Sellappan

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