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ED arrests one in Rs 2,200 crore PMLA case

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 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has arrested Pavitra Pradip Walvekar, the promoter director cum CEO of Kudos Finance and Investment Private Limited, an NBFC company in connection with a prevention of money laundering case.

His arrest was made at Hyderabad by a team of ED officials. The probe agency produced him before a special court and said that he wasn’t needed for further interrogation. After this the court remanded Pavitra to 15 days judicial custody.

The ED has been conducting money laundering investigation against a number of Indian NBFC companies which are in the business of instant personal loans via mobile apps.

The ED has found that various fintech companies backed by Chinese funds have made agreements with these NBFC companies for providing instant personal micro loans of term ranging from 7 days to 14 days.

Ms Kudos NBFC ‘purportedly’ engages FinTech (digital lending partners) Companies as a Service Provider to assist in identifying prospective customers, verifying their eligibility, collection of information/documents, conducting due diligence, collecting pre-disbursement documents, arranging execution of the loan agreement, assisting with collections and recovery of principal and interest payments and attending service requests/product related queries for the retail loans offered by the Company.

Although it is projected that the NBFC is engaging Fintech companies for the above activities, but in reality they are allowing the Fintech companies to misuse the valuable NBFC license of Kudos.

“Ms Kudos has a paltry Net Owned Fund (NOF), but it is taking huge amount as ‘security deposits’ and then opening separate Merchant ID (MID) with payment gateways for each fintech app and then depositing this security in the MID of the respective fintech app,” said an ED official.

Kudos company has no mobile app of its own. It is not involved in the lending business at all. It has miniscule staff and is blindly allowing fintech companies to operate at the back of MOU between self (NBFC) and Fintech Mobile app companies. Thus, the entire lending operation is being done by the fintech app from its own funds. Kudos is only lending its license and the fintech apps are the ones acting like the real NBFCs and doing end to end micro lending and reaping majority of the benefits. In return Kudos is taking a commission without doing any due diligence or hard work.

“Entire decisions regarding fixation of interest rate, processing fee were taken by fintech companies and these companies were operating on the basis of instructions from Chinese beneficial owners. They capture customers’ data by getting access to their mobile contacts, media. In order to obtain more profits and to maintain high recovery rate, their call centres resorted to harsh recovery measures by using abusive language to entire phone list and contacts and misuse of social media privileges. Unable to bear the level of harassment, certain people have committed suicides,” said an ED official.

The official said that at the time of crediting the loan amount, the apps would deduct 15-25 per cent of the amount as processing fee and on the remaining amount they were charging very high interest rate.

“Fund trail investigation done by ED revealed that despite having NOF of only Rs 10 crore, Kudos circulated loans over Rs 2,200 crore in its name and it was entirely funded by 39 fintech companies who are now not responding to summons and have shutdown their operations and are absconding,” said the ED official.

In the entire business, fintech companies have gained a total profit of around Rs 544 crore and Kudos has gained a profit of around Rs 24 crore.

This entire arrangement is in complete violation of the RBI guidelines on NBFCs and thus, the entire profit of Rs 568 crore is nothing but proceeds of crime.

The source of funds with the fintech companies is also suspect and is being investigated.

Despite repeated opportunities, Pavitra Pradip Walvekar was not revealing the real identity and beneficial owners of the 39 apps with whom they were in business for more than a year.

The ED has alleged that instead of cooperating with the investigation, he had been making active attempts to obstruct the free and fair investigation.

Crime

Intoxicated passenger threatens to kill man in Mumbai local; arrested after threat video goes viral

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Mumbai, July 4: A disturbing incident aboard a Mumbai suburban local train has once again raised concerns over passenger safety after a man allegedly threatened to kill a fellow commuter during an altercation. The incident comes just weeks after a youth was stabbed on a Mumbai local train, leading to his death.

The accused was later arrested by the LTT Railway Police after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

The accused has been identified as Ramzan Fakir Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi, also known as Ibba (36), a resident of Shivaji Nagar.

According to the Railway Police, he was allegedly travelling in a heavily intoxicated condition when he threatened the life of another passenger over what officials described as a trivial issue.

The Railway Police stated that the incident took place on June 29, 2026, aboard a ‘Down’ direction Mumbai local train that had departed from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). The train was passing near Govandi station at around 10:34 P.M. when the altercation occurred.

Officials said the confrontation took place between Govandi and Chembur stations. The complainant, Surendra Shukla (55), a resident of Ulwe in Navi Mumbai, told police that he had boarded the train at Govandi. He alleged that the accused was speaking to someone on his mobile phone while using abusive language in a loud voice and appeared to be heavily intoxicated.

According to Shukla, he requested the accused to refrain from using abusive language because women were travelling in the compartment. The request allegedly enraged the accused, who suddenly became aggressive, started shouting and allegedly threatened to kill him in full public view.

The incident created panic and an atmosphere of fear among passengers travelling in the compartment. During the altercation, another commuter recorded the entire episode on a mobile phone. The video was later uploaded on social media, where it spread rapidly and drew widespread attention.

After the video went viral, the LTT Railway Police took cognisance of the matter and immediately launched an investigation. Officials said the detection team carried out a technical analysis of the viral footage and examined CCTV footage from railway stations and nearby areas to identify the accused.

Based on the investigation, police tracked the accused’s movements and eventually detained him outside Reay Road railway station. He was subsequently arrested, and further legal proceedings are underway.

The incident comes close on the heels of another similar case reported in Borivali, adding to concerns over the safety and security of passengers on Mumbai’s suburban rail network.

On June 23, a 22-year-old passenger was stabbed to death inside a first-class compartment of a Churchgate-Nallasopara fast local train following an argument over keeping the coach door open during heavy rain, police said.

The victim, identified as Mayank Lohar, a resident of Virar, was travelling in the first-class coach of Train No. 90663, when the incident occurred between Andheri and Borivali stations, when he reportedly asked the accused Roshan Suvarna to close the coach door.

The request allegedly led to a heated argument between the two passengers. During the altercation, the accused Suvarna allegedly pulled out a sharp weapon and stabbed Lohar in the abdomen, inflicting serious injuries that led to his death.

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Crime

Mumbai Police bust Rs 1.07 crore online share trading fraud; 6 arrested

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Mumbai, July 4: The Cyber Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police has busted an organised cyber fraud syndicate allegedly involved in cheating investors of more than Rs 1.07 crore through fake online share trading schemes.

As part of the operation, police arrested six individuals accused of orchestrating the fraud by luring victims with bogus investment opportunities, officials said.

According to the Cyber Police, the accused allegedly carried out the fraud by operating through WhatsApp groups, fake trading applications and multiple bank accounts while promising lucrative returns through fabricated share trading and IPO investment schemes.

Of the six accused arrested in the case, four were apprehended from Vadodara in Gujarat, while the remaining two were arrested from Mumbai. Police said the investigation revealed that the group functioned as a well-organised network with clearly defined roles assigned to different members.

According to investigators, the operation was carried out in several layers. The first stage involved identifying individuals willing to provide their bank accounts.

Thereafter, current accounts were allegedly opened in the names of companies, following which the money obtained through the fraud was routed through multiple bank accounts before being transferred further to conceal its trail.

Police believe the entire mechanism was part of an organised cyber fraud racket designed to evade detection.

The case came to light after a 43-year-old investment professional from Mumbai approached the police with a complaint.

According to investigators, she came across an online share trading advertisement on WhatsApp and clicked on the link provided in the message.

Police said that after accessing the link, the woman was added to a WhatsApp group named ‘Arjun Mehta, Kua Securities, UK’, where several individuals, posing as market experts, regularly shared stock market updates, investment advice and claims of exceptionally high returns in an apparent attempt to gain the confidence of group members.

According to the police, the accused gradually won the victim’s trust through professional-looking conversations and investment discussions.

She was eventually persuaded to register on what was presented as an online trading platform and to download a mobile application that displayed an interface closely resembling a genuine stock trading platform.

Believing the platform to be legitimate, the victim transferred money in multiple instalments from her own bank accounts as well as from the accounts of her family members to various bank accounts provided by the accused.

During the investigation, police found that the fraudsters had allegedly cheated the victim of a total amount of Rs 1,07,37,208.

The Cyber Crime Branch is now examining the financial transactions linked to the accused, tracing the movement of the defrauded funds and identifying other individuals who may have been part of the network.

Investigators are also trying to ascertain whether more investors across different states may have fallen victim to the same modus operandi.

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Crime

Delhi Police busts drug supply chain, arrests three traffickers including two foreign nationals

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New Delhi, July 4: The East District Anti-Narcotics Squad of Delhi Police has busted an alleged drug supply chain operating in the national Capital and arrested three accused, including two foreign nationals, recovering 21.09 grams of MDMA, 30 grams of ganja, three scooters and two mobile phones, officials said on Saturday.

According to Delhi Police, the operation was carried out as part of its ongoing ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy against drugs and the campaign to build a drug-free society.

The three arrested persons have been identified as John, a 35-year-old Senegalese national allegedly working as a drug supplier; Diwakar, 27, a resident of Baba Colony in Burari, Delhi, who was allegedly acting as a local drug peddler; and Solomon, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, who police described as the source of the narcotics.

Police said a dedicated team of the Anti-Narcotics Squad (ANS) of East District was formed under the supervision of Inspector Arun Kumar and the overall guidance of ACP (Operations) Pawan Kumar to crack down on drug suppliers and peddlers. Acting on a tip-off received on June 30, the team laid a trap near Star City Mall on the Delhi-Noida Link Road after receiving information that John would arrive there to deliver MDMA.

According to police, John attempted to flee after noticing the police team by making a U-turn on the wrong side of the road. During the chase, he allegedly rammed his scooter into a road divider before being overpowered by the police. A search led to the recovery of 12.86 grams of MDMA from his possession. Subsequently, an FIR was registered at Mayur Vihar Police Station under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

During interrogation, John allegedly disclosed that he used to supply MDMA to a local peddler, Diwakar, at different locations between the Chilla-Noida border and Akshardham Road. Based on this information, police traced and arrested Diwakar from Akshardham Road. Officers recovered around 3 grams of MDMA and 30 grams of ganja from his possession.

Further questioning of the two accused led investigators to another alleged supplier identified as Solomon, an African national residing in New Ashok Nagar. Police laid another trap near Crown Plaza Hotel Road and Chilla Border Road and arrested Solomon. A search resulted in the recovery of 5.23 grams of MDMA from his possession.

Police said the total seizure included 21.09 grams of MDMA, classified as a commercial quantity, and 30 grams of ganja, with an estimated value of around Rs 4 lakh in the international illicit market. Three scooters allegedly used for transporting narcotics and two mobile phones were also seized.

During the investigation, police found that Diwakar had initially started purchasing MDMA from John for personal consumption before allegedly turning to drug peddling for financial gain. Police further said that both foreign nationals failed to produce valid passports or visas during verification.

Officials said the arrests have helped dismantle an active narcotics supply chain operating in the area. Further investigation is underway to identify both backward and forward linkages of the network and ascertain whether the recovered vehicles were used in other criminal activities.

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