Hawala ruse used to throw cops off scent

HYDERABAD: Several bank and virtual accounts with deposits of around Rs 102 crore have been frozen by police, in connection with the instant loan apps fraud. Reportedly, most loan app companies disbursed credits, recovered money from customers, and pooled funds for loan amounts in a typical hawala technique, leaving the cops puzzled. The police have, so far, identified more than 350 physical bank accounts linked to 280 loans apps, proprietors of which were booked for defrauding customers. The investigators also found Rs 12.5 crore deposited in physical bank accounts and around Rs 89 crore in payment gateways. A Rs 8,500 crore turnover was also done by the companies.

Inquiries revealed that funds were transferred from a single physical bank account to several virtual accounts, and later deposited into customer accounts as loans. Interestingly, these loans were repaid to the virtual accounts, and were then diverted to other virtual accounts. The original account, which supplied the funds, was kept off of these transactions. It was also found that the virtual accounts had several sub-accounts to break the fund distribution chain, making it difficult for the cops to trace the source.