ED raids Razorpay, Paytm, Cashfree and other online payment gateways
The Enforcement Department (ED) on Saturday continued raids at six properties in Karnataka in connection with a raid going on into “illegal” smartphone-based instant loans “controlled” by Chinese people of China.
A raid was launched at his Razorpay, Paytm, Cashfree and other online payment gateway premises in Bengaluru under the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, according to a statement on Friday.
A search operation was underway at the time the report was submitted.
The whole Chinese illegal case is based on at least 18 of his FIRs filed by the Cyber Crime Division of the Bengaluru Police, the federal agency informed us that the apps operated by these personalities”.
The Central government of India say £17m was seized from trader ID cards and financial accounts of the Chinese companies. The modus operandi of these companies is to use forged documents from Indians and make them dummy directors, resulting in an “illegal proceeding”.
Those companies are mainly controlled and operated by Chinese people, he asserted.
There has been a finding that the company in question conducted illegal transactions by using payment gateway/bank accounts created by various merchant IDs.
Following the raid, a RazorPay spokesperson said: As part of the ongoing raid, officials have requested additional information to support the investigations. As part of our full cooperation, we shared KYC information and other details. It was determined that our due diligence process was satisfactory by the authorities.”
A Cashfree Payments spokesperson said it cooperated during the raid and provided the ED with all the information it needed. “We have expanded our enthusiastic cooperation with ED operations by providing necessary and required information on the same day of investigation. We have and will continue to do so.”
Payment gateways Paytm, Razorpay and Cashfree were raided Saturday by the Enforcement Department (ED) in connection with an ongoing investigation into illegal Chinese lending apps.
The ED said the investigation was conducted at six facilities in Bengaluru, including three fintech firms.
On September 3, the Enforcement Department (ED) said that six of his online payment gateway locations in Bangalore were raided on suspicion of fraudulent use of mobile app-based loans “controlled” by Chinese individuals. Announced.
Which company was searched for?
Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree are among the companies reportedly raided, according to ED. Paytm declined to comment, but Razorpay and Cashfree said the companies are working with government agencies. Cashfree Payments said its “operational and onboarding processes comply with PMLA and KYC guidance and will continue to do so.”
“We carefully cooperated with the ED’s operations and provided the necessary information on the same day of the investigation,” the spokesperson added.
“Law enforcement investigators investigated some dealers about a year and a half ago. As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities have requested additional information to help investigate,” he said. said.
“Our due diligence process was fully cooperating, we shared KYC details, and the authorities were pleased with our cooperation.”
why were they attacked? Since the COVID-19 epidemic broke out nationwide in 2020, these payment gateway companies have been subject to ED measures.
According to the ED, the businesses investigated generate criminal proceeds through various merchant identities/accounts held at payment gateways/banks and operate from locations listed on the MCA (Minister for Corporate Affairs) website. , I did not register the listed address. An ED investigation found that these businesses had “fake” addresses.
Funds worth 1.7 billion rupees held in “dealer ID cards and bank accounts of Chinese companies” were seized in the raid, officials said.
Explaining the modus operandi, the ED said forged documents were used by Indian citizens to turn them into bogus directors, resulting in “criminal proceeds.”
“China-controlled companies” conducted questionable/illegal transactions through various merchant IDs/accounts held at payment gateways and banks. “The company under investigation is generating criminal proceeds through accounts held with various merchant IDs/payment gateways/banks and also operating from addresses/registered addresses listed on the MCA (Ministry of Enterprises) website. No,” the agency said.
Bengaluru against numerous entities/individuals in connection with their involvement in extortion and public harassment, where at least 18 FIRs had obtained small amounts of credit through mobile apps operated by accused entities/individuals. Filed by the Police Cyber Crime Bureau. ED said it had filed a money laundering suit based on this.
Razorpay and Cashfree said they are working with federal agencies, but Paytm declined to comment.
Cashfree’s statement reads:
A smartphone-based Chinese instant loan app has been scanned by an Indian agency following multiple allegations.
Just last month, Delhi police blew up his network of more than 100 such apps and arrested 22 people on suspicion of extorting money under the guise of offering instant loans through the apps. They have been accused of data theft and money fraud from lenders.
Chinese mobile operators such as Oppo, Xiaomi and One Plus are also under scrutiny for alleged fraud, including tax evasion.
About a year ago, a search for the Chinese government-controlled telecom operator ZTE found “huge losses over the years”, even though the company made 30% of its profit on sales of imported goods. It was revealed that the books had been tampered with to show that
Enforcement agencies have raided the facilities of online payment gateways such as Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree in Bangalore as part of an ongoing investigation into “illegal” smartphone-based instant loans “controlled” by Chinese individuals. did.
A search began on Friday at his six facilities in the capital Karnataka, a statement Saturday said. Search operations are ongoing, according to the ED.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it seized funds worth 1.7 billion rupees held in “dealer ID cards and bank accounts of these Chinese controlled companies” during the raids.
As described in the lawsuit, these entities generate “proceeds of crime” by using forged documents of Indians and making them dummy directors.
There was a statement in the publication that stated, “These entities are controlled/operated by Chinese individuals.”.
In a matter of minutes, we caught wind of the fact that the said entities were involved in suspected/illegal business through a variety of merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks.”
A search operation was conducted at the premises of Razorpay Pvt Ltd, Cashfree Payments, Paytm Payment Services Ltd, and entities controlled or operated by Chinese nationals, the ED said.
There were various merchant IDs/accounts used by the entities under investigation to generate proceeds of crime, and they did not operate from the MCA website/registered address and they had “fake” addresses. The agency said they were using various payment gateways/banks to generate proceeds of crime.
At least 18 FIRs were filed by Bengaluru Police cyber crime station against “numerous entities/people in connection with their involvement in extortion and harassment of the public who had obtained small loans through mobile apps run by those entities/individuals,” the ED said in its money laundering case.
In addition, the official explained that the ED had noticed that the said entities were operating through a variety of merchant IDs/accounts held with banks and payment gateways. According to a Razorpay spokesperson, law enforcement investigated some merchants about a year and a half ago.
As part of an ongoing investigation, authorities have requested additional information to help investigate. During the course of our due diligence process, we fully cooperated with the authorities and shared our KYC and other information. They were satisfied with the way we handled our KYC,” according to a mobile app operated by these entities.
