Mobile loan thuggery trail leads to China

In some cases, scammers used broadband services in Nepal and Bangladesh to activate WhatsApp numbers. Representation pic

The investigation into the loan app case following the arrest of five men by the Maharashtra cybercops appears to have hit the dead end with the emergence of Chinese links. Maharashtra Cyber, the nodal agency for cyber security and cybercrime investigation in the state, has found that one of the Gmail IDs used to upload the Handy Loan app on Google Play Store was activated from China.

The cyber police have also found that the WhatsApp numbers used to harass borrowers of the Handy Loan app were active in at least 11 states other than Karnataka from where the five accused were arrested last month. The action followed a series of reports by mid-day that highlighted the harassment of borrowers with their morphed pictures.

Also read: Two more loan app cases with Nepal link come to the fore

The arrested recovery agents last month. File pic

Sources in Maharashtra Cyber said the agency has tracked the IP address of the Handy Loan app to China. "There are two email IDs which were used to activate the Handy Loan app and one belongs to China," said an officer of Maharashtra Cyber.

The investigation has shown that the kingpins behind the digital lending scam used broadband connections in Nepal and Bangladesh to activate multiple WhatsApp numbers, which were then used to harass and threaten borrowers. "This is basically their tactics to dodge law enforcement agencies and delay the investigation if any case has been registered," said the officer.

Earlier, mid-day had visited the office of Oasis Broadband in Kathmandu whose services had been used to activate a few WhatsApp numbers by the loan sharks. However, the company staff refused to share the details of the owners of the WiFi routers involved in the racket.

A Maharashtra Cyber officer said the criminals behind several digital lending apps use fake addresses to register their products. In the case of Handy Loan, Maharashtra cybercops visited Gujarat to check the address given on the app but it turned out to be fake.

Too many layers to peel

The police have come across layers of conduits to move the ill-gotten money coughed up by borrowers to its final destination, which in some cases is China.

Recovery agents of mobile loan apps often morph borrowers' pics to blackmail them. Representation pic

"The UPI payments were in multiple layers such as the first account in which the payment was received belonged to Karnataka and then the money was transferred to accounts in Uttar Pradesh before being sent to another account in Mumbai. We are verifying all the details but it takes time to get a response from the banks concerned and the fraudsters are taking advantage of these procedural bottlenecks," added the officer.

The police said unravelling the money trail is crucial as that will help them establish the larger conspiracy. The Enforcement Directorate which has also investigated a few cases under the money laundering legislation has Chinese links. "If the money trail also confirms the involvement of China, we will surely intimate ED to probe money laundering in this case as well."

Considering that some of the WhatsApp numbers used by the accused were earlier with people in at least 11 states - reflected in the national cyber portal - Maharashtra Cyber has also alerted authorities in these states, including Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana.

A screenshot of the Handy Loan app on Play Store. Its Gujarat address was found to be fake

Working on the inputs by Maharashtra cyber, the Pune rural police recently took custody of the five arrested men for their alleged role in a similar case registered with the Lonavala and Daund police. "We took their custody for making harassment calls and morphing pictures of loan borrowers," said an officer from Pune rural police.

Five tracked so far

The Maharashtra cyber last month arrested five youth, including an MBA, from Karnataka for allegedly making harassment calls and morphing pictures of loan borrowers on behalf of the Handy Loan app. All five have told the court that they simply made reminder calls based on the information shared by their employer. "All are well qualified and belong to good families. They were jobless and were working from home, one of them was arrested a day after he joined," their lawyer Advocate Rajesh Khobragade had told a city court.

Khobragade said that the main accused in the case who harass borrowers are still at large.

"Now, other police are also taking their custody based on the cases registered against the Handy Loan app. So far, Lonavala and Daund police have taken their custody and the court has already granted bail to them after giving sufficient time to interrogate," said Khobragade.

The accused are lodged at Arthur road jail. "All are now in judicial custody and lodged again at Arthur road jail and I am hearing that other police is also going to take their custody," said Khobragade.