New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 4 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against a Chinese national staying “illegally” in India and his associate.

It said the Chinese national’s associate allegedly indulged in a host of criminal activities like gambling, prostitution and secret clubs for people from China.

The probe pertains to the Chinese man identified as Xue Fei who was first booked by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police in Noida, near Delhi.

The attached properties are in the form of bank and fixed deposits of Rs 3.12 crore and an immovable property (residential flat) worth Rs 60 Lakh situated at SAS Nagar in Mohali, Punjab “beneficially owned” by Ravi Natvarlal Thakkar, a close associate of Xue Fei, the main accused, and others, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

A provisional order was issued by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these properties.

In June, assets worth Rs 13.51 crore were attached by the ED in this case.

The Chinese national was staying “illegally” in India and he along with Thakkar and others was “running and controlling” two hotels and clubs named Luckin Club Private Limited and Tianshang Renjian Private Limited in the National Capital Region (NCR) “exclusively” for Chinese nationals, especially those who used to enter and stay in India illegally, the ED said.

“Various illegal activities and services like gambling and prostitution by underage girls were being carried by Xue Fei and his cartel in these hotels/clubs,” it said.

The agency alleged that the accused opened multiple paper (bogus) companies with “puppet or dummy directors” as they operated various instant loan apps (Internet-based applications) like Rupee Plus, Lucky Wallet, Flash Paisa, Paisa Karo, Hi Paisa, Radha Money and the likes under the umbrella of such companies.

“They were charging heavy interest rates and, in case of delayed payment of EMI, they obtained the personal data of borrowers and used to blackmail and threaten them in the guise of loan recovery,” the ED probe found.

This way, it said, they cheated borrowers spread across the country and collected “huge amounts” running in crores of rupees, which they infused into a web of companies by way of “circular transactions” through bogus or shell companies controlled by the Chinese cartel.

The two and their associates were also involved in illegal trade of e-waste by extraction of PCB (printed circuit board), mobile chip and motherboard, the agency said.

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