Noida man held in ₹150cr scam case

NEW DELHI: A 40-year-old owner of a Noida-based telecom company dealing in international SIM cards and internet data packs has been arrested in connection with the case in which over half a million people were duped of over ₹150 crore over months through an online multilevel marketing (MLM) racket floated allegedly by some Chinese citizens in connivance with their Indian counterparts, police said on Thursday.

Satyendra Singh, owner of SG Telecom company, was arrested from Noida Sector-62 on

Wednesday for allegedly supplying 27 pre-activated Indian SIM cards to the masterminds of syndicate based in China (Chinese nationals), investigators said.

Some SIM cards were later sent back to India for being used by Indians who were involved in the scam. These SIM cards were used to contact investors and lure them into investing money through two “malicious mobile applications”, Power Bank and Ezplan, that offered to double investments in 24-35 days, said a senior cyber cell unit (CYPAD) official associated with the investigation, asking not to be named.

“Singh activated all the SIM cards in the names of his employees and illegally exported them to China to be used by Chinese nationals who later dispatched some of the chips to their Indian accomplices. The SIM cards were used to dupe the investors through the mobile applications, and to contact them. Singh was arrested following investigation into the case and arrest of those who possessed the SIM cards,” the officer said.

HT tried to contact SG Telecom for a comment on Singh’s arrest and the charges under which he was caughtm but mobile phone number mentioned on the company’s website was switched off or not reachable. An email sent to the address mentioned on the company’s website did not elicit a response.

Police said Singh is the twelfth person to be arrested in the case even as investigation is still on. Between June 2 and June 9, the CYPAD unit arrested 11 persons, including a Tibetan woman and two chartered accountants (CAS), following multiple searches in Delhi-ncr, and West Bengal.

The footprint of the syndicate was confirmed in West Bengal, Delhi-ncr, Bengaluru, Odisha, Assam, and Surat, where several people were hired by the Chinese frauds to get people to invest in their bogus plan, police said.