Page 8 - Frauds

Two Indian-origin men in US guilty of fraud in multi-million Covid fund

Two men of Indian origin in the US have pleaded guilty to their participation in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme by obtaining loans under an economic assistance plan following the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the justice department said. The Department of Justice in a statement said Nishant Patel, 41, and Harjeet Singh, 49, both from Houston and three others engaged in fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans that the Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees under the CARES Act. They admitted to submitting false and fraudulent PPP loan applications to SBA and certain SBA-approved PPP lenders. All five defendants also assisted in laundering the fraudulently obtained PPP loan funds by supplying co-conspirators with blank, endorsed checks, which were made payable to people posing as employees of the companies that received the PPP loan, but who were in fact not employees. These fake paychecks were

Civil fraud trial 'took me off campaign trail,' claims Donald Trump

"This was for politics. It has been very successful for them - they took me off the campaign trail," Trump said as he exited the courtroom after the court was wrapped for the day

22-year-old calls it his biggest mistake after losing Rs 67 lakh in crypto

A 22-year-old Google employee, whose aim was to resign at age 35 with Rs 41 crore savings, lost Rs 67 lakh post investing into crypto. He called it his 'biggest financial mistake'

Morgan Stanley sued for $750 million by private equity firms claiming fraud

Morgan Stanley said in a statement, "The Firm does not believe the claims have merit and will defend itself vigorously."

CBI books infra firm in Rs 3,800 cr bank fraud case, searches 4 locations

The CBI has conducted searches at four locations in Mumbai after registering an FIR against Unity Infraprojects Ltd, its then CMD Kishore Krishnarao Avarsekar and others for allegedly defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 3,847.58 crore, officials said on Monday. The CBI took action on a complaint of the SBI, one of the consortium members which alleged that the fraud took place at its Commercial Branch in Mumbai where the accused persons siphoned the "Bank's funds by doing fictitious transactions, manipulated and fudged books of accounts with an objective to defraud and cheat the bank and to gain unlawfully at the cost of the Bank's funds". The officials said searches were conducted recently at the premises of the accused. The account of the 44-year-old infrastructure company, which had taken over Rs 3,800 crore from 23 lenders against moveable and non-moveable assets besides personal and corporate guarantees, had become a non-performing asset on June 24, 2014. Five yea

Bigg Boss fame actor Kriti Verma named in ED chargesheet in fraud case

During the investigation, it was discovered that Kriti Verma had sold a property in Gurugram, which was acquired with Rs 1.02 crore of proceeds from the crime

Govt seeks public feedback on draft guidelines for dark patterns

Dark patterns are practices or patterns on UI/UX interactions on any platform designed to mislead or trick users

FM nudges PSU banks to take swift action against frauds, wilful defaulters

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to take swift action in cases concerning fraud and wilful defaults to reduce bad loans and take steps to accelerate growth momentum, sources said. Banks have written off Rs 11.17 lakh crore bad loans from their books in the last six years till the financial year 2021-22. The non-performing assets (NPAs), including those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off. In a recent meeting with heads of PSBs, the finance minister urged them to focus on having robust risk management practices and mitigating Cyber Security risks. During the meeting, it was also emphasised that banks should follow a strong internal audit framework and adherence to caveats of internal policies, sources said. Some of the challenges highlighted during the meeting included the declining share of market share in terms of advanc

KPCC chief Sudhakaran arrested by Crime Branch, later released on bail

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran was on Friday arrested by the Crime Branch wing of the police in a cheating case, in which the prime accused is controversial antique dealer Monson Mavunkal, and later released on bail. Sudhakaran, after being released on bail, told reporters that he was arrested after several hours of questioning by the Crime Branch before which he had appeared in the morning for questioning. "They questioned me. After that, they recorded my arrest and then I was released on bail. I have faith in the judiciary. I will face the case in court," he told reporters here. Sudhakaran, surrounded by several party leaders and workers, said that he was "fully confident" that the police had no evidence against him in the case for him to be punished. "I am not afraid. I am not going to hide anywhere," he said. On being asked whether he rejected links with Mavunkal, the KPCC chief said that he has. Meanwhile, senior party leaders of Congress in Kera

GST officers unearth 461 fake entities involved in Rs 863 cr ITC fraud

The GST Intelligence officers have unearthed a racket involving 461 shell/fake entities, which had passed on fraudulent input tax credit of Rs 863 crore. According to the Finance Ministry, the Gurugram Zonal Unit of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence busted the racket, which passed on fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) through fake shell entities following a search operation. "Huge number of forged/ morphed/ fake soft copies of documents like rent agreements, electricity bills, Aadhar card, driving license, PAN card, etc. were detected in the laptops resumed from this secret office, which were used to create and operate their fake entities. "The forensic examination of the laptops, devices seized from this office led to the eventual detection of ITC fraud to the tune of Rs 863 crore, involving fake 461 entities and arrest of two key operatives," the ministry said on Thursday. The initial investigation indicates that the fraudulent ITC credit has eventually travelled to the

Genuine students victimised by fraud won't face deportation: Canadian Min

We recognise the immense contributions that international students make to our country, and we are committed to providing a path to Canada that is honest and transparent

Bank held liable for fraud by its manager

The National Commission noted that other bank officials had blamed its own manager for embezzlement, so for the bank to accuse PHFI's employees was an afterthought

ED conducts search operations in multiple cities in Rs 122 cr GST fraud

The ED initiated money laundering investigation based on FIRs registered by Bhavnagar Police under various sections of IPC, against Bomar and others

Pan-India online cheating gang busted, dubious loan app scam exposed

With arrest of six persons, the Police has busted a gang of online cheats who had duped over 1,900 people on pretext of loans through app 'Cash Advance', a senior official said on Monday

Indians banned in some Australian universities amid fraud applications

Punjab, Gujarat, and Haryana have been identified as states posing the highest risk of attrition in these universities

57% of all fraud incidents in India are platform frauds: PwC Report

More than half of all fraud incidents in India were 'platform' fraud, a novel form of economic crime that involves fraudulent activities associated with social media, e-commerce, enterprise and finTech platforms, said a PwC India report on Thursday. The onset of the pandemic has led to an increase in platform fraud, said the second edition of PwC's Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022: India Insights, titled 'Platforms: The new frontier of fraud in India'. "The surge in remote work, e-commerce, delivery applications and contactless payments has further contributed to the rise of this type of fraud. 57 per cent of all fraud incidents in India were platform fraud," it said. It further said more than 26 per cent of Indian organisations lost over USD 1 million due to platform fraud, and 44 per cent of the perpetrators were found to commit fraud for financial gain. PwC said it surveyed 111 organisations across India from diverse industries such as technology, financial services,

57% of all fraud incidents in India are 'platform' frauds: PwC India

Over 26 per cent of Indian organisations have lost over $1 million till now due to platform fraud, according to a report released by PwC India

Hear borrowers before declaring accounts 'fraud': Supreme Court

Bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli upholds Telangana HC decision of 2020, sets aside Gujarat HC ruling in this regard; opportunity for hearing not necessary ahead of FIR

Can't declare a borrower 'fraud' without hearing him first: SC tells RBI

The apex court upheld a judgement passed by the Telangana High Court in December 2020 stating that the principles of "audi alteram partem" must be applied before declaring a party as fraud

ED seizes Rs 1.21 cr cash, jewellery after raids in investment fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Monday said it has seized Rs 1.21 crore cash and gold and diamond jewellery worth more than Rs 5 crore after it raided some Nagpur-based persons in a money laundering case linked to alleged investment fraud that cheated numerous investors. The searches were launched on March 3 at 15 places in Nagpur and Mumbai and covered the premises of "main accused" Pankaj Mehadia, Lokesh Jain and Karthik Jain apart from main beneficiaries, it said in a statement. The money laundering case stems from a Nagpur Police FIR field against Pankaj Nandlal Mehadia, Lokesh Santosh Jain, Kartik Santosh Jain, Balmukund Lalchand Keyal, Premlata Nandlal Mehadia in a case of "fraud causing loss to investors in crores of rupees." "Pankaj Mehadia along with other accomplices was running a ponzi scheme and lured various investors by promising to give 12 per cent assured profit after deducting TDS on investments made from the year 2004 to 2017," it alleged. "Throughout the period