Part-time jobs fraud case: ED raids 12 entities linked to China

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs 5.85 crore after it conducted searches on 12 entities in Bengaluru in connection with a part-time job fraud case. ED found that mostly youth were cheated by a group of Chinese nationals through the mobile application called 'Keepsharer' promising them to give part-time job.

ED said, “These Chinese persons formed companies in India and recruited many Indians as directors, translators (for translating Mandarin to English and vice versa), HR Manager and Tele callers. They obtained the documents of Indian persons and opened bank accounts by using their documents."

The accused Chinese nationals linked Keepsharer with an investment app through which they collected the money. They even collected money from public in the name of investment through this app. Youngsters were given the task of liking videos of celebrities and uploading them on social media. On completing the task, they were to pay Rs 20 per video. For some time, money got credited in their application wallet but later the app was removed from the Google Playstore. The officials alleged that public was cheated with their investment amount and the remuneration to be paid, which ran into crores of rupees.

ED added, “The money collected through scam was routed from the bank accounts of some Bengaluru based companies and then converted into crypto currency and transferred to China based Crypto exchanges. All the transactions were under control of Chinese persons through phone and WhatsApp groups." The ED’s case is based on an FIR registered by the Bengaluru Police. As per the chargesheet filed by the police, out of 92 accused persons, six are citizens of China and Taiwan who were controlling the entire scam.

(With inputs from Munish Pandey)
 

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