Hyderabad, November 4, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested four more accused in a money laundering investigation into an alleged fake call centre scam targeting US nationals, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
The ED’s Hyderabad Zonal Office arrested Harshil Nayanbhai Raval, Jaswant Singh, Chetan Munjal and Pranav Pithadia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. They were produced before a Special Court in Nampally, which remanded them to judicial custody.
The agency had earlier arrested Vikas Nimar, Tarachand Nimar and Mohd. Irfan Ansari in July and August.
During searches conducted on September 15 in Patiala, Pune and Chandigarh, the ED detected three operational call centres employing around 220 people. Digital devices, cash and records were seized. Forensic examination of 79 devices — 65 mobile phones, 13 laptops and computers, and one data storage disk — revealed chats, ledgers, calling data, victim records and cryptocurrency wallets allegedly linked to the syndicate.
According to the ED, the syndicate operated organised calling floors with employees working as ‘dialers’, ‘bankers’ and ‘closers’. They allegedly contacted US nationals on the pretext of fraudulent purchases, account charges or computer viruses before intimidating them by impersonating officials of US agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and Department of the Treasury.
The callers allegedly used forged identity cards, badges, official letters and court documents to convince victims that their accounts were linked to drug trafficking or money laundering. Victims were threatened with arrest and the freezing of their savings and were instructed to keep the matter confidential.
The agency said the syndicate used lists containing around 20 lakh US telephone numbers, along with names, addresses and ages, many belonging to elderly people. The lists were loaded onto auto-diallers hosted on servers in Germany and Finland.
Victims were allegedly persuaded to buy gold bars, hand over cash to collection agents, send money concealed in courier parcels, transfer funds to mule accounts or Dubai-based companies, deposit cash through Bitcoin ATMs or purchase gift cards.
The proceeds were allegedly routed through accounts in the UAE and Hong Kong and cryptocurrency, including USDT, before being transferred to India through hawala and angadia channels. The money was allegedly invested in properties, gold, vehicles and businesses.
The ED identified 927 approved collections worth around $27.39 million, equivalent to approximately Rs 261 crore, between July 2025 and September 2026. So far, 549 US victims have been identified, many of them born in the 1940s. The syndicate allegedly called or messaged 6,463 US telephone numbers.
The investigation also revealed that Pranav Pithadia allegedly owned and managed the calling floors in Patiala.
The ED said the investigation was continuing to identify further proceeds of crime, trace the money trail and ascertain the involvement of other individuals and entities.
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