CA Caught Running Rs. 750 Cr Fake Loan App Scam with Chinese Partners

On Saturday, the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a Chartered Accountant named Abhishek Agarwal at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, the alleged mastermind behind a massive fake loan app scam. The chartered accountant is accused of running over Rs. 750 crore fake loan app racket in collaboration with Chinese nationals, exploiting thousands of Indians.

The police revealed that the arrest has been made under a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued in an interstate cyber fraud case against him. The accused is a resident of Ashok Vihar, Northwest Delhi.

The police revealed that Agarwal set up around 35 to 40 bogus companies to transfer the stolen money. Thirteen of these companies were established in his name, and 28 were in his wife’s name. Some of the companies even had Chinese citizens as co-directors, showing that this scam had international links. Authorities are now looking closely at all the suspicious transactions related to these companies.

The racket used over 15 fake mobile apps (such as ‘Insta Loan,’ ‘Maxi Loan,’ ‘KK Cash,’ ‘RupeeGo,’ and ‘Lendkar’). They promised quick and easy loans to individuals.

Once a person downloaded the app, the scammers secretly stole his/her personal information, including photos, contacts, and other private data. Later, they used this information to threaten and blackmail the person. People in these situations were forced to pay high interest, fines, and penalties. Those who could not pay were threatened with edited photos and public shaming, which caused serious panic and financial problems.

This scam reportedly started around 2019-20 when Agarwal helped Chinese nationals enter India to start the operation. He even travelled to Shanghai and Shenzhen in China in 2019, which shows his deep involvement.

This arrest of CA is part of a broader investigation. Previously, police also arrested a person named Ankur Dhingra, a resident of Gurugram, who was running bogus loan apps via a company named Hector Lendkaro Pvt. Ltd. In 2023, another person from Gurugram was arrested, and a cyber team raided a call centre in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, where they found a Simbox (a device used for fraud) and other significant evidence.

When Agarwal was arrested, the police found a mobile phone, a passport, cash in Indian and Thai currency, a power bank, digital devices, rings, and an Apple Watch with him. He was already wanted in many cases across different states.

Navneet Singh, a top officer of the Special Task Force (STF), said this investigation began in December 2022. It aims to stop such fake loan app frauds and protect people from harassment and exploitation. Uttarakhand’s Director General of Police (DGP) Deepam Seth stated, “Uttarakhand is committed to making the state crime-free and will strive to curb cybercrime incidents more rigorously in the coming times.”