Noida Gang Opened Fake Criminal Probe Agency To Dupe NRIs And OCIs, Used Hawala To Reroute Fraud Proceeds

New Delhi/Noida: Members of a gang, arrested for operating a fake organisation called International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau in Sector 70 of Noida, made several startling revelations during police interrogation.

Central Noida DCP Shakti Mohan Awasthi said the accused, Bibhas Chand Adhikari, Aragya Adhikari and Babul Chand Mandal targeted NRIs and Overseas Citizens of India along with common people by using fake video conferencing calls, fake government document spoofing techniques, hawala network, fake CBI and RBI letterheads and fake Supreme Court orders.

Adhikari, the mastermind of the gang had opened the office of International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau. The gang targeted NRIs and overseas citizens of India and told them if they did not cooperate with the "investigation", they would not be allowed to come to India nor would they be issued OCI cards in future.

Awasthi said the gang members used to make video calls to the Microsoft team to convince the victims and introduced themselves as government officials. They showed fake documents of government agencies like Crime Branch, CBI, ED and Supreme Court to the victims. When the victims claimed to be innocent, the accused told them that in order to come to India and to avoid any investigation in the future, they would have to obtain a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) from the Government of India, which they could arrange.

In international money laundering cases, the gang asked people to send some money to CBI's 'supervision account' to prove their innocence. They told the victims that the money route would be tracked and the funds would be returned promptly. After the victims sent the money, to the 'supervision account', the accused gave them acknowledgment letters with fake seals of Finance Department, CBI and RBI.

Investigation revealed that the gang initially transferred the proceeds of fraud to international accounts and then routed it back to India through hawala networks. Another affiliated organization of the gang, the National Bureau of Social Investigation and Social Justice, used to issue summons letters or orders to the general public that looked like those issued by police. The content and format was deliberately designed to make the documents look like valid legal summons.

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