Indian-origin persons among 15 indicted in US call centre scam
Washington, Sep 8: Fifteen people, including some of Indian-origin, and five India-based call centres have been indicted in a multi-million call centre scam that victimized thousands of people in the US.
Seven people were arrested on Thursday in the US for their alleged involvement in the scam that victimized over 2,000 people, resulting in over $5.5 million in losses, the US Justice Department said in a press release on Friday.
Seven defendants and five call centres in India were also charged for their alleged involvement, officials said.
Mohamed Kazim Momin, Palak Kumar Patel, Mohammed Sozab Momin, Devin Bradford Pope, Nicholas Alezander Deane, Drue Kyle Riggins and Jantz Parrish Miller were arraigned before US Magistrate Judge Janet F. King.
"Internal Revenue Service (federal tax agency) and payday loan phone schemes seek to profit by exploiting US citizens, including the most vulnerable members of our community," said US Attorney Byung J. Pak.
"This indictment and yesterday's arrests demonstrate our commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who hide behind these types of phone scams."
"This indictment makes clear that the IRS impersonation scam has risen to a new level, with indictments against five call centres and seven co-conspirators in India who allegedly directed their employees to participate in the scam," said J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The indictment alleged that the defendants were involved in a "sophisticated scheme organized by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centres in Ahmedabad".
Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, the accused allegedly called potential victims while impersonating officials from the IRS or individuals offering fictitious payday loans.
The accused would then threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government.
If the victims agreed to pay, the Indian call centres allegedly would immediately turn to a network of US-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers, to the attention of fictitious names and US-based defendants and their co-conspirators.
The five India-based call centres that were indicted were Excellent Solutions BPO, ADN Infotech Pvt. Ltd, Infoace BPO Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Adore Infosource, Inc. and Zurik BPO Services Pvt. Ltd.
The other indicted people were Shylesh Kumar Sharma, Dilipkumar Kodwini, Radhishraj Natarajan, Shubham Sharma, Nirav Janakbhai Panchal, Athar Parvez Mansuri, Mohmmad Samir Memon and Rodrigo Leon-Castillo.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
