Agency probing if E-Nuggets has links with other loan apps controlled by China, say sources
ED seizes over Rs 7 cr cash during raids in money-laundering case against promoters of an alleged fraud mobile gaming app in Kolkata. Pic/PTI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has seized more than Rs 7 crore in cash after it raided the promoters of a Kolkata-based mobile gaming app company as part of a money laundering investigation.
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A picture released by the federal agency showed bundles of seized Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200 stacked together on a bed. The searches were conducted at half-a-dozen locations of the gaming app E-Nuggets and its promoter identified as Aamir Khan, said the ED. The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the Kolkata Police against the company and its promoters in February 2021. It was based on a complaint filed by the Federal Bank authorities before a court in Kolkata, ED added.
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“One person identified as Aamir Khan launched a mobile gaming application, E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding people. During the initial phase of its launch, the users were rewarded with commission and the balance in the wallet could be withdrawn hassle-free. This provided initial confidence among users, and they started investing bigger amounts for greater percentage of commission and a greater number of purchase orders,” said an ED official. The ED said that after collecting a “handsome amount” from the public, the withdrawal from the said app was stopped all of a sudden under pretexts like system upgradation.
Later, all data, including profile information, was wiped off the app servers. It was then that users understood the ploy. Official sources said the agency is investigating if this app and its operators had links with other “Chinese-controlled” apps that had been issuing loans at exorbitant rates to gullible persons and in many cases the loan takers ended their lives after they were threatened by these loan operators to pay up.
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