Bhubaneswar: The Bureau of Immigration (BOI), Ministry of Home Affairs, has issued a lookout circular against three more Chinese nationals, including a woman, in an alleged online Ponzi scam worth Rs 100 crore detected by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police.
The three have been identified as Liu Huan, Wenhui Zheng and Xu Xiaolu, all main accused and close associates of Guanhua Wang (40) of Hangzhou, China, against whom a lookout circular was issued in July, the EOW said on Monday.
Wang along with these Chinese nationals came to India in 2019 and stayed in Bengaluru for a few months. “They created at least 14 shell companies to run various cyber-financial frauds. Initially, their focus was on ‘killer loan apps’ but after it was banned, they switched over to other frauds like earning and betting apps. Almost all the shell companies are based in Bengaluru,” the release said.
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The firms floated by them are as follows: Bettec Technologies Private Limited, Winmoon Technologies Private Limited, Gamecamp Technologies Private Limited, Fintelecom BPO Private Limited, Bryontec Solutions Private Limited, Rumeasy Technologies Private Limited, Ninecity Technologies Private Limited, Joyzone Infotech Private Limited, Sparkplay Technologies Private Limited, Wideline Infotech Private Limited, Bluepond Solutions Private Limited, Jacketnet Technologies Private Limited, Ninetodo Info tech Private Limited and Geekead Technologies Private Limited.
“More than 85 bank accounts having hundreds of crores of transactions have been noticed. They have hired/used numerous mule directors including that of some housewives. Many Indian mobile numbers are still used by Chinese perpetrators from China,” it added.
Inspector General of Crime Branch of Odisha Police JN Pankaj had earlier told the media that Wang visited India six times in 2019 and 2020 and mostly travelled to Bengaluru. “He has been running this scam from China with the help of many India-based associates, who look after managing mule bank accounts, shell companies and Crypto-traders, Whatsapp/Telegram group tutors/administrators and also running Ads using the morphed photos of celebrities,” he said.
He allgedly siphoned of over Rs 100 crore, according to initial investigation, out of India using a complex network of mule bank accounts, shell companies and crypto-traders. Most of the victims are from lower middle-class backgrounds, including many students, he added.
