The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday, October 3, seized over Rs 5 crore from 12 entities in Bengaluru that were allegedly involved in a part-time job fraud case. The companies were raided by the federal agency in an alleged money laundering case. According to a press release from the ED, the agency had initiated a money laundering investigation based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the Cyber crime, Economic offences and Narcotics (CEN) police in Bengaluru alleging fraud through false promises of providing part-time jobs. A total amount of Rs 5.85 crore was seized from the 12 entities.
According to the ED statement, the investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that many individuals, mostly youth, were cheated by the accused – among whom are Chinese and Taiwanese nationals – through a mobile app named ‘Keepsharer’. The accused had also set up companies in India and recruited many Indian nationals as directors, translators (for translating Mandarin to English and vice versa), human resource managers and telecallers, and obtained documents of Indian citizens and opened bank accounts using them, the statement said. Promising part-time jobs to youngsters, the companies collected money from them, it said.
Expanding on the details of the modus operandi, the ED statement said: “The accused Chinese persons developed a mobile app in the name of ‘Keepsharer’ and started its advertisement through WhatsApp and Telegram by offering part-time job opportunity to the youth. This app was linked with an investment app. For registration on this app, they collected money from youth. Further, they collected money from public also in the name of investment through this app. The youth were given the task of liking the videos of celebrities and uploading them on social media. When the task was completed, they used to pay Rs 20 per video and that will be credited in the ‘Keepsharer’ wallet. For some time, money got credited in their wallet, and later on, the app was removed from the Play Store. Thus, public was cheated of their investment amount and the remuneration to be paid which run into crores of rupees.”
The money thus collected through the app was then routed from the bank accounts of some Bengaluru-based companies, converted into cryptocurrency, and then transferred to China-based cryptocurrency exchanges, it added. All the transactions were under the control of Chinese nationals through phone and WhatsApp groups, the statement said. “As per the chargesheet filed by police, out of 92 accused persons, six persons are citizens of China and Taiwan who were controlling the entire scam. Further investigation in the matter is under progress,” it said.