ED attaches Rs 105 crore of 12 NBFCs

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached `105.32 crore lying in various banks and payment gateway accounts of 12 NBFCs, belonging to Inditrade Fincorp Limited, Aglow Fintrade Private Limited, and other associated fintech companies.

The ED took the action after complaints of money laundering by several Indian NBFCs by Hyderabad Cybercrime. The NBFCs were into the business of Instant Personal Micro Loans. It is eventually revealed that the fintech companies using Chinese funds entered into arrangements with these NBFC companies for providing instant personal loans of terms ranging from 7 days to 30 days.

Though the China-backed Fintech companies claimed that they were providing technical assistance to the customers of NBFCs, in reality, they were the actual lenders and controlled the entire lending process.
The ED said: “It has been found that the fintech companies developed their own digital loan apps, brought the funds to be lent to the public, did MoU with the  NBFCs and parked the funds in the guise of security deposits or performance guarantees. These funds were, in turn, returned to the Fintech Companies in separate MIDs (Merchant ID) opened by the NBFC for the APP of the Fintech Company.”

The ED said: “As many as 12 NBFCs did MoUs with various foreign-backed fintech companies to do online lending business in India. As seen from the business carried out by the said 12 NBFCs and fintech companies associated with them, a total amount of `4,430 crore was disbursed. In the entire business, NBFCs and fintech companies have netted a profit of `819 crore. The ED has managed to identify the funds in 233 bank accounts and is attaching the same under PMLA 2002.”