Call centre scam: Cops to seek details from US

Thane, July 22

The conviction of 21 Indian-origin persons by a US court in a multimillion-dollar India-based call centre scam is expected to help investigators of a similar racket in the city build a watertight case against the accused, Thane Police officials said today.

Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said: “They (American investigators) have quoted from our case (in the US court). We will seek details (from the FBI). DCP Crime (Abishek Trimukhi) will coordinate.”

He said: “We will see what kind of evidence was presented (in the US court) and if we can use it in our case.”

A team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had visited Thane in 2016 and met police officials after the scam came to light.

ACP (Crime) Mukund Hatote, who is leading the prosecution case in a court here, said: “The Thane police should obtain the entire (US) judgment and evidence presented there to make its own case strong and ensure conviction of the accused.”

The prison sentences for the 21 people convicted in the US this week ranged from four to 20 years. According to US officials, the racket defrauded thousands of US residents of hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to various admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas, between 2012 and 2016, the defendants and their conspirators perpetrated a complex fraud and money laundering scheme.

Individuals from call centres located in Ahmedabad impersonated officials from the Internal Revenue Service or US Citizenship and Immigration Services in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout America.

Using data obtained from brokers and other sources, operators targeted people in the US who were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged money owed to the government. — PTI

Taxpayers duped of $300m 

• In 2016, Thane police busted a $300m fake call centre scam wherein US taxpayers were ‘conned’ by Indian telecallers
• At least 15,000 taxpayers were targeted between 2012-16. Sagar Thakkar, alias ‘Shaggy’, ‘masterminded’ the scam 
• Nearly 300, including Thakkar, were arrested. Thane police teams raided five call centres in Ahmedabad which were part of the racket
• Individuals impersonated US officials and threatened taxpayers with arrest, jail or deportation if they didn’t pay money owed to the government