Under the terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has temporarily attached movable and immovable assets valued at Rs 67.23 Crore that belong to Kunal Gupta, his family, businesses, and acquaintances.2002 in the instance of M/s Met Technologies Pvt Ltd and others’ fraudulent use of a phony call centre. The proceeds of crime attached consist of the balances in twelve immovable properties, fourteen cars, and thirty-five bank accounts, with a total estimated value of Rs. 61.84 crore. Immovable properties include ten business offices, flats, apartments, and lands in Kolkata and Bangalore, as well as one resort and one villa in Goa.
Based on a formal complaint (FIR) filed by the Bidhannagar Police, the ED opened an investigation against M/s Met Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and its associates for alleged serious violations under many sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, including cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The following inquiry revealed that the business operated an illicit call centre in Salt Lake, Kolkata, that was involved in fraud both locally and abroad. State Police subsequently sealed this call centre.
The ED’s investigation exposed that the aforementioned company’s agents preyed on naive citizens in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. They tricked people by pretending to be representatives of respectable companies and using phony tech help services, misleading website sales, and shady loan offers through phony mobile applications, forcing victims to make large payments and generating proceeds of crime totaling Rs 126 cr. The genius behind the operation of phony call centres at his company’s headquarters was Kunal Gupta.
Additionally, Kunal Gupta engages in illicit betting and internet gambling. It has come to light that the corrupted money was first introduced, then piled, and then laundered. Through a convoluted network of businesses that he, his family, his business’s staff, and he owned and managed. Through the hotel, club, and cafe industries, the earnings of crime were utilized and presented as pure.
Kunal Gupta was previously detained on October 9, 2023. Additionally, under the PMLA, 2002, ED has conducted search operations at Kunal Gupta’s business and residential properties, as well as those of his major workers and companies. Further research is now being conducted.
