Chinese loan app case: ED attaches properties worth Rs 3.72 crore

New Delhi, Nov 11 : In fresh action in a money laundering case against Chinese national Xue Fei and others related to the Chinese loan app case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Allahabad Sub Zonal office, has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 3.72 crore.

The attached properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the case are in the form of bank balance/fixed deposits amounting to Rs 3.12 crore and an immovable property (residential flat) worth Rs 60 lakh (approx.) situated at SAS Nagar Mohali, Punjab.

Earlier on June 13, 2024, properties worth Rs 13.51 crore were attached in this case. Now, the total amount of attachment in this case stands at Rs 17.23 crore.

The flat in Punjab was beneficially owned by Ravi Natvarlal Thakkar, a close associate of the main accused Xue Fei and others, ED said in a statement.

The ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR and subsequent chargesheets filed by Special Task Force, Uttar Pradesh Police, Gautam Buddha Nagar for offences committed under various sections of the IPC, 1860, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Information Technology Act, 2000.

The ED investigation revealed that Xue Fie was staying in India illegally and he along with Thakkar and others was running and controlling two hotels and clubs namely Luckin Club Private Limited and Tianshang Renjian Private Limited in NCR areas, exclusively for Chinese nationals, especially those who used to enter and stay in India illegally.

In these hotels, various illegal activities/services like gambling and prostitution by underage girls were being carried by Xue Fei and his cartel.

They had opened multiple paper or bogus companies having dummy directors and were operating various instant loan apps like Rupee Plus, Lucky Wallet, Flash Paisa, Paisa Karo, Hi Paisa and Radha Money under the umbrella of such companies.

They were charging heavy interest rates and in case of a delayed payment of EMI used to get access to the personal data of borrowers and used to blackmail and threaten them in the guise of loan recovery, the ED said.

This way they cheated the borrowers on pan-India basis and collected huge amount running in crores of rupees, which they infused into a web of companies through circular transactions through bogus or shell companies controlled by the Chinese cartel.

They were also involved in illegal trade of e-waste and extraction of PCB/Mobile Chip/Mother board from the same.