ED freezes Rs 46.67 cr of Easebuzz, Razorpay, Cashfree, Paytm in Chinese loan app case

New Delhi [India], September 16 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has detected and freezed Rs 46.67 crore kept in various bank accounts and virtual accounts of Easebuzz, Razorpay, Cashfree and Paytm after recent raids in connection with Chinese loan app case, the agency said on Friday.
A total of 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.
The ED on Thursday carried out search operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at six business and residential premises in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Gaya and 16 other premises of banks and payment gateways branches and 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 federal agency initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered on October 8, 2021, filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (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, said the ED.
"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."
ED said the payments were received from users through UPIs and other various payment gateways and nodal accounts or individuals.
The part amount was paid back to the investors and the remaining amount was diverted to various individual and company accounts through different Payment gateways and Banks from where partly it was siphoned off in digital or virtual currencies, said the ED.
After that, the ED said, the fraudsters stopped the payments and the website became inaccessible.
Investigation revealed that the HPZ token was operated by Lillion Technocab Private Ltd and Shigoo Technology Private Limited, it said.
"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 the public on the pretext of operating various Apps and Websites for gaming, loan and others.
ED suspected the involvement of Jilian Consultants India Pvt Ltd, Gurugram behind various companies involved in these frauds.

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

During the search, various incriminating documents were 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. Around Rs 46.67 crore was detected and freezed in various bank accounts and virtual accounts." (ANI)