Nagpur, May 21 (PTI) Police probing a Rs 155 crore financial fraud have busted an elaborate network allegedly involving CAs and commerce graduates, jointly operated by a Nagpur-based businessman with others who conducted black money and Hawala transactions through a web of shell companies.
Police arrested the prime accused, Santosh alias Bunty Rampal Shahu, after raiding his 'commercial' unit-cum-office located in the Small Factory area on Tuesday, an official said on Wednesday.
With this, the number of individuals arrested so far in connection with the fraud reached five.
Police seized important documents, including bank passbooks, investment records, and forged company papers that revealed the scale of the scam. Eight bank accounts belonging to Shahu and his family were frozen, and a forensic audit is underway, said officials of the Crime Branch.
Preliminary investigation shows that Shahu created an elaborate network involving a 15-member team of Chartered Accountants and commerce graduates to run fraudulent activities smoothly.
His office served as a hub for businessmen, online gaming players, and Hawala operators seeking to convert unaccounted cash into legal money using fake billing and shell companies, officials added.
Two firms are prima facie found to have processed dubious transactions for 113 and 57 fake companies, respectively. The money funnelled through these firms was allegedly moved into Hawala channels, with suspicions of a larger financial syndicate being involved, the officials said.
Further probe has now exposed three more fake firms, reportedly registered under the names of unaware individuals, whose identities were misused.
At least two individuals had come forward and lodged complaints with police earlier, claiming their genuine identities were misused by fraudsters to commit financial fraud, amounting to Rs 160 crore, police had said earlier.
The accused individuals arrested so far are identified as Bunty Shahu (52), Jayesh Rampal Shahu (36), Brijkishore Ramvilas Maniyar (59), Rishi Hitesh Lakhani (21), and Anand Vinod Harde (33).
All are currently being interrogated to determine their roles in the fraudulent network. With the discovery of more shell companies and the growing value of fake transactions, police now believe the total scale of the scam may run into thousands of crores.