The assertion got here after the
ED searched half a dozen offices belonging to on-line cost gateways equivalent to Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree in Bengaluru in reference to a probe into the Chinese language micro-loan app scandal.
The searches had been made below the provisions of the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal company had mentioned on Saturday.
“As a part of ongoing investigations on a particular set of retailers, the ED has sought data relating to such retailers to whom we offer cost processing options. It’s hereby clarified that these retailers are impartial entities, and none of them are our group entities,” Paytm mentioned in an announcement. “We’re, and can proceed to, totally cooperate with the authorities, and all of the directive actions are being duly complied with.”
The digital funds agency mentioned not one of the service provider IDs requested to be frozen by the ED belonged to Paytm or its group entities.
“It might be famous that ED has instructed us to freeze sure quantities from the Service provider IDs (MIDs) of a particular set of service provider entities (as talked about by the ED of their press launch). It might be additional famous that not one of the funds which have been instructed to be frozen belong to Paytm or any of our group firms,” the Noida-based agency added.
Uncover the tales of your curiosity
The ED has launched an investigation on the idea of the 18 First Info Reviews (FIRs) registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Bengaluru, in opposition to quite a few entities and people.
“Throughout enquiries, it has emerged that these entities are managed/operated by Chinese language people,” the ED mentioned, including it had seized Rs 17 crore “in service provider IDs and financial institution accounts of those Chinese language persons-controlled entities.”
The case refers to predatory lending apps that lured folks with apparently simple loans. In some situations, cash was paid into buyer accounts even with out express mortgage purposes. This was adopted by escalating harassment, together with threats to add morphed images to folks on contact lists until repayments had been made at usurious charges of curiosity. The lending and restoration transactions of those lending apps had been normally routed by cost gateways.
In February 2021, the ED’s Hyderabad zone had summoned officers of Razorpay, Cashfree and Paytm.
Subsequently, the statements of Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur, Paytm CFO Vikas Garg and Cashfree CEO Akash Sinha had been recorded, sources mentioned.
ET reported on August 24, citing sources, that the ED discovered proceeds of crime of over Rs 800 crore as a part of a long-drawn cash laundering probe in opposition to 365 fintech companies and their non-banking monetary firm (NBFC) companions within the Chinese language loan-app scandal.
The ED mentioned, in the course of the searches, it discovered that “the mentioned entities had been producing proceeds of crime by varied service provider IDs/accounts held with cost gateways/banks and they’re additionally not working from the addresses given on the MCA web site/registered deal with and having faux addresses.”
