Follow us on Google News
HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested four more individuals in connection with a transnational cyber fraud syndicate that operated fraudulent call centres across India to extort approximately Rs 261 crore from citizens of the United States. According to the federal agency, the suspects impersonated American government officials to intimidate victims with threats of legal action and property attachment, coercing them into parting with cash, bullion, and electronic transfers. The four men were arrested on November 3 under Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and subsequently remanded to judicial custody by a special PMLA court, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
The newly arrested individuals have been identified as Harshil Nayanbhai Raval, Jaswant Singh, Chetan Munjal, and Pranav Pithadiya. Digital records recovered by the agency revealed documented approvals for 927 payment collections valued at Rs 261 crore between July 2025 and September 2026. The syndicate previously saw the arrests of Vikas Nimar on July 27, Tarachand Nimar on August 5, and Mohammed Irfan Ansari on August 10, all three of whom remain lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Jail.
Extensive Call Centre Operations Uncovered in Patiala and Pune
Agency investigations revealed that Pranav Pithadiya owned and managed calling operations in Patiala, employing around 242 individuals, including 110 agents assigned exclusively to telephone calls targeting American residents. Pithadiya allegedly maintained operational authority over payment authorizations and settlements. Extorted proceeds were initially routed through US-based mule accounts and overseas accounts established in Dubai.
Harshil Raval reportedly managed the syndicate’s master accounts, logging illicit profits, partner distributions, and overseas transfers while funneling proceeds into diverse asset acquisitions. Jaswant Singh coordinated cash pickups and parcel handoffs directly in the United States, utilizing hawala channels and verification tokens to convert international proceeds into domestic currency. Chetan Munjal, who held a 25 per cent stake in Rabditta Corporates, which runs a restaurant venture in the Kala Ghoda area, allegedly provided operational cover to the network and received Rs 23.19 lakh from the fraudulent proceeds.
Raids Yield Forged Federal Badges and Digital Records
The enforcement action follows searches carried out on September 15 across four premises in Patiala, Pune, and Chandigarh, where authorities uncovered two active call centres in Patiala and another in Pune housing roughly 220 workers. Forensic analysis of 79 seized digital devices, comprising 65 mobile phones, 13 computers, and a data storage disk, uncovered extensive communication threads, financial ledgers, victim lists, and cryptocurrency wallet records.
Investigators retrieved at least 11 forged identity credentials and official badges bearing the names of United States authorities, alongside falsified notices purportedly issued by the US Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, and American courts. These forged records included asset seizure warnings, bank freeze directives, and formal letters of assurance designed to terrify targets into compliance.
Siphoning Through Hundreds of US Accounts and Crypto Channels
Analysis of the seized digital evidence revealed 397 bank accounts spread across at least 15 American banking institutions, including 313 maintained with Wells Fargo, alongside accounts linked to Bank of America, SSB Bank, Thread Bank, Column NA, and Lead Bank. These accounts comprised mule facilities, compromised victim accounts, and setups using stolen identities, with authorities recovering online banking login credentials belonging to four victims. Seized phones also contained communication records directed to 6,463 US numbers and 92 identity images featuring Social Security details.
A parallel preliminary inquiry by the agency has placed assets worth approximately Rs 400 crore under scrutiny, including plots of land in Chandigarh and cryptocurrency balances, for potential provisional attachment. Transactions utilizing Tether on the Tron network and Bitcoin were channeled from domestic wallets through intermediate addresses to foreign exchanges, eventually landing in jurisdictions such as Singapore and South Korea to conceal the audit trail.
