Oswal digital arrest and money laundering: ED files prosecution complaint

Jalandhar: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, has filed a prosecution complaint against five accused – Rumi Kalita, Arpe Rathore, Anand Chaudhary, Atanu Chaudhary and M/s Frozenman Warehousing & Logistics – in connection with a money laundering probe related to the digital arrest case of prominent industrialist S P Oswal under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).The prosecution complaint was filed in the special PMLA court here.The ED had initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime police station, Ludhiana. The investigation has revealed that proceeds of crime generated from eight other cyber-crimes were also credited to the bank account of M/s Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics on Aug 28, 2024.The ED investigation further revealed that during Oswal's digital arrest, the fraudsters impersonating officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation extorted Rs 7 crore from him.The proceeds of crime were initially credited to the bank accounts of M/s Riggio Ventures Private Limited and M/s Frozenman Warehousing & Logistics. The bank accounts of the latter were controlled by accused Rumi Kalita of Guwahati and Arpit Rathore of Kanpur.An APK application, AMMFORWARD, was used by the accused for speedy routing of proceeds of crime. Arpit Rathore provided various mule bank accounts to persons belonging to Cambodia, Vietnam, etc, and received commission in the form of virtual digital assets (crypto currency) in his Binance account, stated the ED.The proceeds of crime were subsequently transferred to multiple mule bank accounts in a systematic manner, thereby facilitating the diversion and concealment of the proceeds of cyber-crime. A portion of these was further layered through various shell entities and remitted outside India by adopting trade-based money laundering mechanisms, the ED added.The balance money was transferred to various mule accounts in small amounts in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 5 lakh, and cash was immediately withdrawn from these bank accounts. The cash was utilised for acquisition of virtual digital assets, which were then credited to the accounts of foreign nationals after retaining commission, the ED submitted.These mule accounts were opened by inducing economically vulnerable individuals with false promises of arranging loans or providing employment.Earlier, a provisional attachment order was also issued by the ED, through which Rs 1.76 crore was provisionally attached. Rumi Kalita and Arpit Rathore were arrested in December last year. They are presently in judicial custody.MSID:: 128610059 413 |