The Enforcement Directorate seized over 5 crores in an alleged money laundering case during raids at 12 job-providing entities in Bengaluru on Monday as part of a massive crackdown on part-time job firms run by Chinese citizens.
The job entities were controlled by six Chinese and Taiwanese citizens, according to the federal investigation agency, which named 92 people as suspects in the alleged job scam.
5.85 crore was seized during yesterday’s raids on the 12 companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the ED, Chinese citizens defrauded job seekers using an app and transferred the money collected to China-based crypto exchanges.
The scam worth crores were discovered after the ED launched a money laundering investigation based on a case related to part-time job fraud.
According to the ED, locals were hired as human resource (HR) managers, directors, and telecallers in these Chinese-owned companies. They released the ‘Keepsharer’ app, which was linked to another investment app. It was available on the Google Play Store.
Job seekers were required to pay a registration fee. They were also instructed to deposit additional funds for alleged investments.
The victims, who were tasked with liking celebrity videos and sharing them on social media, were paid $20 per video, which was credited to their app wallet. According to the ED, this continued until the app was removed from the PlayStore.
According to the report, the accused converted the money they had collected into cryptocurrency and transferred it to Chinese crypto exchanges.
“All transactions were overseen by Chinese individuals via phone and WhatsApp groups. Six of the 92 accused are Chinese and Taiwanese citizens who were in charge of the entire scam “The ED stated.
ED has conducted search actions on the 12 entities involved in Part time job fraud case located in Bengaluru and seized Rs.5.85 Crore so far under PMLA, 2002.
— ED (@dir_ed) October 3, 2022