The ED has initiated a probe against a Chinese “controlled” mobile app that allegedly duped a number of youngsters in lieu of providing them part-time jobs that included “liking” and uploading celebrity videos on social media platforms.
The federal agency said on Monday it has raided at least 12 entities in Bengaluru that are linked to the app — Keepsharer — following which it seized funds worth Rs 5.85 crore.
The probe found 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) said in a statement.
The Chinese formed companies here and recruited several Indians as directors, translators (Mandarin to English and vice-versa), HR managers and tele-callers, the ED said.
“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 said.
The accused also collected money from people in the name of investment through this app, while the youth were given the task of liking the videos of celebrities and uploading 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 agency claimed.
The agency said the money collected through this “scam” was routed from the bank accounts of some Bengaluru-based companies and then converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to China-based crypto exchanges.
“All the transactions were under control of Chinese persons through phone and WhatsApp groups,” it said.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR (south CEN police station of Bengaluru city) and a subsequent charge sheet where the police had said that out of 92 accused, six were Chinese and Taiwanese citizens “who were controlling the entire scam”.