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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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
