Delhi court denies bail to man involved in fake Apple call centre racket

By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], April 3 (ANI): A Delhi court has rejected the bail petition of Nikhil Kumar allegedly involved in a fake Apple call centre racket, stating that the accused is part of a criminal syndicate that is involved in cheating gullible citizens overseas.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana, in an order passed on March 27, said that the "accused made a conscious choice to earn his livelihood by resorting to illegal means. The investigation is at the initial stage and co-accused persons are reported to be absconding. Considering the nature of allegations, I do not find any merits in the application at hand, the same is accordingly dismissed".
"The accused Nikhil Kumar is part of a criminal syndicate which is involved in cheating gullible citizens overseas. The modus operandi of the crime suggests meticulous planning and deft execution. Such incidents cast a dent upon the image of the entire nation and merely because accused was an employee, that would not absolve him from his liabilities" the court said.
According to the prosecution, the accused -- along with his other associates -- indulged in cheating gullible citizens of America by running a fake call centre of IOS (Apple) Technical Support with the help of their employees including the accused who used to work as tele-callers or agency on fixed minimum salary added with call earning based incentive.
Additional Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed accused that the persons used to pose themselves as representative of iOS Apple and demanded 50 USD from each victim for technical support; they used to make illegal VOIP calls using X-Lite software to the victim. He also submitted that 16 accused persons have been arrested till date including four owners of the call centre.
Meanwhile, Advocate Sahdev Singh appeared for the accused and submitted that the applicant has no role to play in the commission of the alleged offence as he was a newly appointed employee in the alleged call centre nor he has received any pecuniary benefit from the alleged transactions. (ANI)