ED raids in Patiala, Pune and Chandigarh unearth call centre syndicate

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, conducted searches at four premises in Patiala, Pune and Chandigarh on Tuesday in connection with an investigation into a fake call centre syndicate targeting US nationals. The gang involved in the case was part of an earlier ED investigation.

The searches, conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, led to the detection of three call centres, two in Patiala and one in Pune, where around 220 persons were found working. The premises had multiple work stations, computers, headsets, mobile phones and networking equipment and were being used to make calls to US nationals and induce them to make payments under false pretexts.

An officer from the ED said that they keep changing their offices to evade suspicion.