Delhi liquor scam: ED conducts raids over 40 locations in country, including Telangana

Hyderabad, Sept.16 (NSS): In a massive development on Friday, the ED conducted raids at over 40 locations in connection with the Delhi liquor scam in which Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is an accused. The searches are underway at the premises linked to liquor businessmen, distributors and supply chain networks in Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. Earlier on September 6 too, the ED raided some 45 locations in the country in connection with the case. Reportedly, it is probing whether some proceeds of crime were generated by the accused.

The central agency is also set to question AAP leader and Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in the Tihar jail regarding the matter as it obtained permission from a local court to do so. Incidentally, the ED raids come a day after BJP released a sting operation. The video featuring Delhi liquor scam accused Amit Arora allegedly revealed details about how money allegedly exchanged hands and the key persons involved in formulating the Excise policy. In the video, he not only alleged that the ill-gotten money was used by AAP for its election campaign in Goa and Punjab but also accused Sisodia of earning kickbacks.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out search operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 on September 14 at six business/residential premises in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Gaya and 16 other premises of Banks/Payment Gateways branches/offices in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bangalore in respect of an investigation related to the app-based token named HPZ and related entities.

The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of FIR dated October 8, 2021 filed under various sections of IPC by Cyber Crime Police Station, Kohima, Nagaland. The HPZ Token was an App-Based Token which promised users of large gains against investment by investing in mining machines for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The modus-operandi of the fraudsters was to first lure the victims to invest in the company on the pretext of doubling their investment through the app HPZ Token. Payments were received from users through UPIs and other various payment gateways/nodal accounts/individuals. Part-amount was paid back to the investors and remaining amount was diverted to various individual and company accounts through various Payment gateways/Banks from where partly it was siphoned off in digital/virtual currencies. After that, the fraudsters stopped the payments and the website became inaccessible.

Investigation revealed that the HPZ token was operated by Messrs Lillion Technocab Private LTD and Messrs Shigoo Technology Private Limited. Shigoo Technology Private Limited was also found linked to various Chinese controlled companies. It was also revealed that various other companies were indulged in receiving funds from public on pretext of operating various Apps/Websites for gaming/loan/others. ED suspected involvement of Messrs Jilian Consultants India Pvt Ltd, Gurugram behind various companies involved in these frauds.

One such entity, Messrs Mad-Elephant Network Technology Private Limited in agreement with X10 Financial Services Limited was operating various loan Apps (YoYo cash, Tufan Rupees, Coco cash etc.). Similarly, Su Hui Technology Private Limited, in agreement with Messrs Nimisha Finance India Private Limited had operated Loan Apps.

During the search, various incriminating documents have been recovered and seized. Huge balances were found to be maintained in the virtual accounts of the involved entities with payment aggregators. Rs 33.36 crore was found with Easebuzz Private Limited, Pune, Rs 8.21 crore with Razorpay Software Private Limited, Bangalore, Rs 1.28 crore with Cashfree Payments India Private Limited, Bangalore and Rs 1.11 crore with Paytm Payments Services Limited, New Delhi. Total amount of around Rs 46.67 crore was detected and frozen in various bank accounts and virtual accounts. (NSS)

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