On December 19, 2023, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out a search operation at one location in Patna. Three locations in Kolkata and one place in Kharagpur, West Bengal, were the targets of a follow-up search operation on December 27, 2023. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has detained three individuals, Nitesh Kumar in Patna on December 20, 2023, and Sagar Yadav & Santosh Kumar in Kolkata on December 28, 2023, in relation to a cyber fraud /cheating case against an Irish person.
Based on facts and a complaint of cyber fraud against an Irish national, the ED opened an investigation. According to the complaint, the victim said that she had been the victim of cyber fraud and had been defrauded of 950 Euros (about Rs. 84,941.40).
Nitesh Kumar, a Patna, Bihar resident, deceived an Irish national, and then transferred the “Proceeds of Crime” to his Indian bank account as an RDA remittance, according to an ED probe. After being detained on December 20, 2023, Nitesh Kumar appeared before the Honorable Special Court (PMLA) in Patna, Bihar, where he was first placed in judicial custody before spending six days in emergency department detention.
It was also discovered that a gang of eight to ten individuals is persistently active in defrauding foreign nationals, mostly Irish people, and receiving the money for criminal activity in their several Indian bank accounts using fake accounts. These individuals have been operating in Kharagpur, West Bengal, in a similar way to that of a call centre.
Key members of the organization and their locations were discovered on December 27, 2023, based on information and particular inputs. Three places in Kolkata and one in Kharagpur, West Bengal, were searched.
On December 28, 2023, in Kolkata, two important group members—Sagar Yadav and Santosh Kumar—who played a significant role in the money laundering offence were taken into custody. During the course of the searches, evidence-gathering documents—both digital and physical—as well as cash totalling Rs. 1.85 crore—were also found. The aforementioned materials and currency discovered during the search operation have been confiscated, and the 3.67 crore rupee balance in the several bank accounts linked to the money laundering violation has been frozen. Additional research is currently being conducted.
