NEW DELHI, June 8: The Enforcement Directorate has started probing a case involving the alleged purchase of 5,300 SIM cards in the country, which were used in Cambodia by a Malaysian national-led gang to perpetrate cyber frauds across India, duping people for hundreds of crores of rupees.
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The central agency had raided 7 premises in Rajasthan’s Kishangarh (Ajmer), Nagaur and Jodhpur apart from Ludhiana in Punjab on June 5, leading to the identification of 30 domestic bank accounts that are allegedly part of this fraud network.
The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a Jodhpur Police (Cyber Wing) FIR against certain POS (point of sales) vendors who “fraudulently” activated Indian SIMs and handed them over to a Malaysian national who operated them from Cambodia, the ED said in a statement issued on Monday.
Several cyber crime incidents, including digital arrests, have been detected against Indians from “scam farms” located in Cambodia.
The ED said it analysed 2.3 lakh numbers (SIM cards) and it was found that about 36,000 of them were active in Cambodia, out of which nearly 5,300 were involved in committing cyber frauds across India to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees by making WhatsApp calls.
During the searches, it was found that Rahul Kumar Jha, Mohammad Sharif and Sandeep Bhatt, in connivance with other SIM vendors named Prakash Bheel, Ramavatar Rathi, Hareesh Malakar and Hemant Panwar, supplied hundreds of SIM cards to the Malaysian national.
The SIM vendors had the POS ID of telecom operators like Airtel, JIO and VI (Vodafone India), the agency said.
“They (vendors) targeted the less educated and gullible persons on the pretext of porting their SIM cards or issuance of new SIMs.
“However, while activating the said SIMs, they also additionally activated other SIMs which were subsequently supplied to the Malaysian National through Rahul Kumar Jha and his associates in lieu of commission,” the ED alleged. (PTI)
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