Noida: Another sham call centre busted for offering fake loans

NOIDA: Nine youths, including a few graduates, were arrested from a leased property in Phase 3 area of Sector 63 — Noida’s call centre hub — on Saturday, for allegedly working in a fake call centre that has duped as many as 500 people across NCR against the promise of getting them loans from reputed banks.
The call centre, Nawjivan Info Solutions, was being run by Meerut-resident Raja alias Nazar and his accomplices, who are yet to be nabbed. They have advertised their firm online and even in newspapers.
On their website, the company identified itself as a “Delhi-based start-up that has pioneered the concept of online comparison for retail loans in India”.
“We are an online loan information and application portal, providing you with valuable information on all available loans in India… our directory of lenders gives you all information you need about online loan companies you are considering and what they offer. We are not brokers or DSAs of any bank,” it says in its “about us” section.
According to the police, loan seekers from across Delhi-NCR, looking at the advertisements, would make calls to them. The accused would receive them and promise to process their loans, ranging between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
Those arrested include Faisal, Arshad, Sameer, Bilal, Mohammed Junail, Arif, Azeem, Aman and Mohammed Akil.
Most of them are from Raja’s native place Meerut. Many are graduates. Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Vaibhav Krishna said the accused would ask victims to deposit Rs 3,500 as “file charges” for processing loans between Rs 1-9 lakh, and Rs 4,130 to process loans between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 1 crore. They would also charge Rs 12,430 as “processing fee” for each loan, though not a single loan was ever processed by them.
The fraud involves a sum of over Rs 50 lakh, said a police officer, adding they are verifying the exact amount. While call centre owner Raja, a resident of Hapur Adda in Meerut, is yet to be arrested, a police officer told TOI.
“He was operating with other accomplices, who too are being probed. His background is dubious,” the officer said. Police also said while two more youths were present at the spot with the nine arrested, they were left off as one was an interviewee for a job at the office, while the other was a one-day employee.
The fraud came to light when a former employee — Bihar resident Anand Prakash — lodged a complaint, alleging the company gave him a target of getting money from those seeking loans between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1 crore, for which he was given two bank accounts to deposit the money, which aroused his suspicions.