Notes ban hit Shaggy’s cash flow in Dubai

‘Shaggy’ Thakkar, the man who masterminded the Thane call centre scam that cheated taxpayers in the US over three years, was also hit by demonetisation, investigators have found.

Sources said Thakkar took just 15-20% of the scam money, while the remaining went to his partners and employees. But the scale of the scam was so large that this itself earned him Rs15-20 crore over the last three years, sources said.

But the government’s move to ban high-value notes last November hit Thakkar hard, the Thane police said.

A senior Thane crime branch officer told HT the notes ban hit Thakkar in two ways — first, the curb on black money resulted in plummeting property prices, and second, transactions had to be done in white, via cheques or money transfer, which has left a trail of the deals made.

Thakkar fled to Dubai soon after the police raided his fake call centres last year, but not before allegedly asking his parents to sell of his sprawling bungalow in the plush New Renip area of Ahmedabad and giving away two expensive cars — an Audi R8 and a BMW SUV— to his friends in Haryana and Ahmedabad. However, no sale was made till months later.

It was only in December that his parents and one of his friends could find buyers for the bungalow and the SUV.

With a slump in realty prices and the cash crunch gripping the nation, the assets fetched nearly 50% less than what he expected.

Moreover, as all transactions of the sales were done in white it establish the money trail and pinpoint if Thakkar got any financial support when he was away.

“The demonetisation resulted in the 5,000 sqft bungalow — which could have easily bagged up to Rs6 crore — to be sold off for just Rs2.5 crore. The Audi R8 was seized, while the SUV was sold for a very low price,” an officer privy to Thakkar’s interrogation said.

The police have learnt that both transactions were made using cheques. “So, even if attempts were made to wire transfer the money, the trail can be established from the accounts,” the officer said, adding that three of Thakkar’s bank accounts in Ahmedabad had been identified. On Wednesday, a team took Thakar to Ahmedabad, as the police trace his money and investments. Thakkar surrendered last week. Thane commissioner Param Bir Singh told HT on Tuesday the police had leads about how Thakkar had invested