Instant loan apps: Rachakonda police bust Pune call centre; arrest 3, including Chinese national

The arrested persons have been identified as Parshuram Lahu Takve (31), Liang TianTian (35), and Sk. Aaqib (20). The police also seized 101 laptops, 106 mobile phones, and other materials, including several documents. The police have sent a notice to the company under Section 91 of the CrPC to freeze the company account (HDFC).

On 18 November, Bhumana Prasad, a resident of Uppal in Hyderabad, took a loan of Rs. 3,500 from an app 'My Bank'. He paid the loan within a week. Later, he took a loan of Rs. 4,500 from the same app and again paid the amount. Later, when he checked his bank statement he found that an amount of Rs. 26,000 was credited to his bank account from 14 different loan applications for which he paid Rs. 44,000 to the said apps.

However, the apps continuously credited large amounts to his account without his consent and harassed him to repay them. Upon inquiry, he came to know that the companies were running non-banking finance businesses without valid licenses from RBI or concerned government authorities and were collecting the contact details and photos from the borrowers while sanctioning the loans.

After sanctioning the loans, the companies would ask the customers to repay the amount within seven days. They also charged high rate of interest, more than 50 per cent, without following the RBI rules and regulations. If the loan was not repaid within the due date, they started harassing the defaulters by threatening to defame them. The call centres would call the family and friends of the defaulters and harass them.

The modus operandi

In 2013, Parshuram Lahu Takve married Liang Tian Tian, a Chinese national. In June this year, Parshuram started Jiya Liang InfoTech Pvt. Ltd. at Business Avenue Centre in Koregaon park, Pune. The directors of the company are Parushuram Takwe and Amit Nandu Kalbhor of Maharashtra who is absconding. Aaqib Shaik is the HR manager of the company while Liang monitors the employees' day-to-day activities.

The company was registered on 15 July 2020 in ROC and it executed business agreements with Bienance Infrastructure Technology in West Mumbai, Ajaya Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in Thane, and Taelde Technology Pvt. Ltd. in Mysore to provide telecaller services for recovery of loan payment dues. These companies were involved in providing online instant loans through various applications and sanctioning personal unsecured loans through digital apps.

Parshuram could not produce copies of agreements executed with the said companies. Neither could he produce any valid licences from RBI to run the non-banking finance company business.

At present, Jiya Liang InfoTech Pvt. Ltd. has around 650 employees. As per the instructions of their clients, they call the defaulters, their relatives, and friends and insist they repay the loan along with the interest. They also collect personal data, contact, and photos of the borrower at the time of sanctioning the loan.

The company's clients had developed around 16 instant loan applications that offer loans to individuals and collect huge repayments. These apps are developed in such a way that on installing them they get access to the contacts, mobile information, and other data on the device. These applications collect the Id proofs, PAN card, KYC documents, and bank account details of the customers. They also blackmail people by sending fake legal notices. Telecallers also suggest victims repay the loan by taking loans from other loan apps. The customer falls into their trap by taking loans from other loan applications as suggested by telecallers and end up paying huge amounts and get stuck in a never-ending cycle.

The Rachakonda cyber crime police station has registered two cases against these loan applications in the recent past. The raid at the call centre was part of the investigation and further probe is on.