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New Delhi: Replacing many destinations across Europe considered safe havens, Dubai has become the new hub of fugitive Indians evading investigating agencies probing their illegal online gaming, investment and ponzi schemes, where they have been accused of defrauding thousands of people and laundered the proceeds of crime.
In one such action on Friday, the ED attached bank balances of Rs 24 crore of Pune-based VIPS group where its promoter Vinod Khute, who has fled to Dubai and operating his ponzi scheme from there, is accused of siphoning off more than Rs 100 crore of investors money.
These are all small investors who have been duped of their hard- earned money, being misled into doubling their investments in a short period. In one of the rare cases, Khute’s assets worth Rs 37 crore have also been attached by the ED in Dubai.
Earlier, in a similar case, the ED had attached assets in Dubai and Singapore belonging to fugitive diamond traders Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi who were wanted by Indian agencies for a fraud of Rs 13,000 crore in the Punjab National Bank case.
In 2018, the enforcement agency had attached 11 properties of fugitive Nirav Modi in Dubai worth Rs 56 crore that was considered ‘proceeds of crime’ from the money laundered by the accused from the PNB scam.
In another similar case, ED is still investigating former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in an online betting scam where mastermind Sourav Chandrakar, under house arrest in Dubai, is accused of laundering more than Rs 5,000 crore collected from victims of illegal betting across the country. Infamously known as the Mahadev Booking App case, the agency has attached assets worth over Rs 1,300 crore in this case so far.
“Khute and his accomplices collected more than Rs 100 crore in bank accounts of his multiple shell companies and sent them out of India to Dubai through hawala operators, in exchange for cryptocurrency such as USDT, to evade regulatory scrutiny,” ED said. Khute used this money to acquire properties in Dubai as well as in India.
Residing in Dubai, Khute is the mastermind of various illegal trade, crypto exchange, wallet services and forex trading through his Dubai-based firm Kana Capital Ltd. “Investigation has revealed that Vinod Khute established multiple companies, including VIPSWALLET Pvt. Ltd., VIPSTRADE Finance Pvt Ltd, Kana Capitals Ltd, Global Affiliate Business(GAB), VIPS Securities, and VIPS Properties, among others, to carry out illicit financial activities,” the agency said.
In one such action on Friday, the ED attached bank balances of Rs 24 crore of Pune-based VIPS group where its promoter Vinod Khute, who has fled to Dubai and operating his ponzi scheme from there, is accused of siphoning off more than Rs 100 crore of investors money.
These are all small investors who have been duped of their hard- earned money, being misled into doubling their investments in a short period. In one of the rare cases, Khute’s assets worth Rs 37 crore have also been attached by the ED in Dubai.
Earlier, in a similar case, the ED had attached assets in Dubai and Singapore belonging to fugitive diamond traders Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi who were wanted by Indian agencies for a fraud of Rs 13,000 crore in the Punjab National Bank case.
In 2018, the enforcement agency had attached 11 properties of fugitive Nirav Modi in Dubai worth Rs 56 crore that was considered ‘proceeds of crime’ from the money laundered by the accused from the PNB scam.
In another similar case, ED is still investigating former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in an online betting scam where mastermind Sourav Chandrakar, under house arrest in Dubai, is accused of laundering more than Rs 5,000 crore collected from victims of illegal betting across the country. Infamously known as the Mahadev Booking App case, the agency has attached assets worth over Rs 1,300 crore in this case so far.
“Khute and his accomplices collected more than Rs 100 crore in bank accounts of his multiple shell companies and sent them out of India to Dubai through hawala operators, in exchange for cryptocurrency such as USDT, to evade regulatory scrutiny,” ED said. Khute used this money to acquire properties in Dubai as well as in India.
Residing in Dubai, Khute is the mastermind of various illegal trade, crypto exchange, wallet services and forex trading through his Dubai-based firm Kana Capital Ltd. “Investigation has revealed that Vinod Khute established multiple companies, including VIPSWALLET Pvt. Ltd., VIPSTRADE Finance Pvt Ltd, Kana Capitals Ltd, Global Affiliate Business(GAB), VIPS Securities, and VIPS Properties, among others, to carry out illicit financial activities,” the agency said.
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