ED Launches Money Laundering Probe Into Chinese App ‘Cheating’ Job Seekers

The ED has initiated a probe towards a Chinese “controlled” cell app that allegedly duped a lot of kids in lieu of offering them part-time jobs that included “liking” and importing superstar movies on social media platforms.

The federal company stated on Monday it has raided at the least 12 entities in Bengaluru which are linked to the app — Keepsharer — following which it seized funds value Rs 5.85 crore.

The probe discovered that “gullible public, mostly youth, were cheated by some Chinese persons through a mobile app namely Keepsharer which promised them to give part-time job and collected money from them”, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated in a press release.

The Chinese shaped corporations right here and recruited a number of Indians as administrators, translators (Mandarin to English and vice-versa), HR managers and tele-callers, the ED stated.

“They obtained the documents of Indians and opened bank accounts. The accused Chinese persons developed the app and started its advertisement through WhatsApp and Telegram. This app was linked with an investment app and for registration on the former, they collected money from the youth,” the ED stated.

The accused additionally collected cash from folks within the identify of funding by means of this app, whereas the youth got the duty of liking the movies of celebrities and importing them on social media.

“When the task was completed, they used to pay Rs 20 per video which was credited in the Keepsharer wallet. For some time, the money got credited, but later the app was removed from the play store. Thus, the public was cheated of their investment and the remuneration to be paid which ran into crores of rupees,” the company claimed.

The company stated the cash collected by means of this “scam” was routed from the financial institution accounts of some Bengaluru-based corporations after which transformed into cryptocurrency and transferred to China-based crypto exchanges.

“All the transactions were under control of Chinese persons through phone and WhatsApp groups,” it stated.

The cash laundering case stems from an FIR (south CEN police station of Bengaluru metropolis) and a subsequent cost sheet the place the police had stated that out of 92 accused, six have been Chinese and Taiwanese residents “who were controlling the entire scam”.