Page 8 - Frauds

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

Indian-origin engineer at FTX, Nishad Singh, pleads guilty to fraud charges

A 27-year old Indian-origin engineer at a crypto asset trading platform has pleaded guilty to charges of commodities fraud. Nishad Singh was the former co-lead engineer of FTX Trading Ltd. He is facing federal charges for his role in a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX, the crypto trading platform started by Singh along with Samuel Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. In December last year, federal authorities had charged Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Singh Tuesday. In a parallel action, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also announced charges against Singh. Singh entered a guilty plea as to commodities fraud and other charges in the separate, parallel action against him in the Southern District of New York. According to the SEC's complaint, Singh created a software code that allowed FTX customer f

CLoudSek finds 31,179 numbers impersonating as fake customer care helplines

Cyber intelligence firm CloudSEK on Friday said it has come across 31,179 phone numbers impersonating as customer care helplines for fraudulent activities. The company analysed the numbers and found that 56 per cent, or 17,285, of them were Indian phone numbers, while the rest were non-Indian. "CloudSEK has decoded a widespread scam in India that involves the use of fake customer care numbers to defraud consumers. The scam involves creating fake customer care numbers for popular brands and posting them online, tricking unsuspecting consumers into calling these numbers for assistance," the company said in a statement. The company said that it has found 80 per cent of the Indian numbers were found to be valid and still operational. "CloudSEK XVigil's Fake Customer Care Number module scours the internet for fake customer care numbers. Our researcher analysed a sample of around 20,000 Indian mobile numbers, used by threat actors, to run customer care scams," the statement said. Accord

Spike in frauds cost insurers $6 billion annually, says Deloitte survey

These frauds cost insurers about $6 billion annually, and they lose about 10 per cent of their overall premium collection to frauds

Choksi bribed Antigua officials to avoid extradition, finds investigation

Choksi has been scheming to illegally extend the court process in Antigua, by paying bribes to government officials: Kenneth Rijock, a financial crimes investigator

Srei auditor flags fresh fraud of Rs 296 cr under former promoters

The transaction auditor of debt-ridden Srei has indicated a fresh fraud amounting to Rs 296 crore under the erstwhile promoters. As per the report prepared by the transaction auditor, the concerned transactions occurred during financial years 2014-2015 to 2021- 2022, Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd said in a regulatory filing. The fraud relates to certain disbursement made to a company called ARSS. The amount of Rs 295.69 crore is the gross outstanding, including principal and interest recoverable from the customer, as on September 30, 2021, on account of the suspect disbursement of loans, it added. Srei is undergoing insolvency resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The administrator had appointed BDO India as a Transaction Auditor, which unearthed this fraud, it said, adding the application has been filed before the NCLT under Section 60(5) and Section 66 of the IBC on January 5, 2023. Earlier, the transaction advisor had flagged fraud transactions worth over