Operation Hafta Vasooli: 'Loan app scam'! Transactions worth over Rs 25,000 core under scanner, money laundering suspected

After reports of people committing suicide over failure to pay their debt started surfacing from across the country, police have swung into action and speeded up the investigation against online loan apps racket. Only yesterday, Telangana Hight Court has directed the police to take strict action against these Chinese loan apps. The court contended that these apps have spread like a spider's web.

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Shikha Goyal, Additional commissioner of police (Crimes and SIT), Hyderabad, who is investigating these cases said these matters could be related to more than just disbursing cheap loans. Shikha Goel says that so far approximately transactions worth more than Rs 25,000 crore have come to the fore.  

In a telephonic conversation with Zee Business, she said that during investigation some big transactions have been noticed. It is suspected that these loan apps might be engaging in money laundering racket too, she said.  

This encompasses not just activities related to online disbursal of loans.  But so far, transactions worth Rs 25,000 crore has come under scrutiny and could be linked to money laundering.

There is an effort on by authorities to trace the money trail. Those arrested in 'fraud loan case' are also related to an old investment scam, said the Hyderabad Addl Commissioner of Police.  

"Most of these companies have been established between second quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020.  Of course, most of the loans were taken from them during Covid 91 pandemic. The public was doing everything online during the pandemic period. So, when you get loan on one click, you don't get top check if the loan is being given by a registered NBFC or not. These were people who had either lost their jobs or had limited source of income or were attracting pay cuts on their salary.  They could not verify the source due to their urgent needs and easy access to loan," said Goel when asked about the initial investigation in the instant loan disbursing apps.  

These companies and call centers were established with the help of local network. The police were yet to trace the source of funding and are following the money trail.