The Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹76.67 crore lying in various bank accounts and payment gateways linked to some Chinese loan App companies and their Indian associates.
The ED’s money-laundering probe is based on various cases registered by the Bengaluru police, following complaints from several persons who had availed themselves of loans through the Apps and later faced harassment from recovery agencies of the lending companies.
The attached amount is linked to seven companies, of which three are Fintech firms named Mad Elephant Network Technology Private Limited, Baryonyx Technology Private Limited and Cloud Atlas Future Technology Private Limited. They are controlled by Chinese nationals, said the ED.
Three others registered as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with the RBI are X10 Financial Services Private Limited, Track Fin-ed Private Limited and Jamnadas Morarjee Finance Private Limited.
“The Fintech companies have agreement with the respective NBFCs for disbursement of loans through digital lending Apps. The amount attached includes the fee of ₹86.44 lakh charged by Razorpay Software Private Limited for not conducting due diligence — in case of one company enrolled with it — for disbursement and collection of loans,” said the agency in a statement.
The ED alleged that the Chinese Apps offered loans to individuals, for which they charged high interest rates and processing fees. The accused persons would resort to systematic abuse, harassment and threats to the defaulters via call centres for coercive recovery of loans.
They would gain access to the borrowers’ data stored in their mobile phones, such as contacts and photographs, and blackmail them. The accused also threatened the borrowers by sending fake legal notices to their relatives.
