Chinese loan apps case: ED searches 5 locations in Bengaluru, seizes Rs 78 crore

The ED began the money laundering probe based on 18 FIRs registered by the Bengaluru central crime branch after multiple complaints about “extortion and harassment of those who had availed small amounts of loan through Chinese mobile apps”.

“During investigation, it has emerged that these entities are controlled/operated by Chinese nationals. These entities use forged documents of Indians to make them dummy directors and for generating proceeds of crime,” the ED said.

“It has come to the notice that the said entities were doing their suspected/illegal business through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks. The premises of Razorpay Pvt Ltd and the bank’s compliance offices related to these entities were covered in the search operation. During the search operation, it was noticed that the said entities were generating proceeds of crime through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks and they have submitted fake addresses in KYC documents,” the ED said on Friday.

“We would like to clarify that this recent visit by ED is as part of the ongoing investigation against a few suspicious entities who conducted illegal business through multiple payment gateways/banks. We proactively blocked all suspicious entities and funds associated with them about 1.5 years ago, and we have shared their details with the ED. Being a regulated financial institution, we routinely cooperate with law enforcement agencies. No funds of Razorpay were frozen as part of these visits. We would like to reiterate that all our operations and onboarding processes adhere to the highest standards of governance and regulatory guidelines,” said a Razorpay spokesperson.