Kolkata app fraud: Fresh recovery of Rs 5.59 cr by ED

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday made a fresh recovery of Rs 5.59 crore from the bank accounts of the prime accused Amir Khan and his associates in the mobile gaming app E-Nuggets fraud case.

With this fresh recovery, the total seizure by the ED in forms of cash, bank deposits and crypto currencies has reached Rs 36.95 crore.

If the recoveries on this count by both ED and Kolkata Police are taken into account, the total seizure amount has reached Rs 80.77 crore. Amir Khan, who was arrested by the cops of the Kolkata Police from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on September 24, 2022 is currently in police custody and his next date of appearance at a lower court in Kolkata is October 8.

Five more persons, other than Khan, have already been arrested by the Kolkata Police in this connection. The Kolkata Police has also issued a lookout notice against Khan’s close associate Subhojeet Srimani, who was the main operator for running a sextortion trade on behalf of the prime accused. Srimani is currently absconding and is believed by Kolkata Police to be hiding in Dubai.

The entire seizure process in this connection started on September 10, when ED officials recovered a massive amount of Rs 17.32 crore in cash from the residence of Amir Khan’s father, Naser Khan at Shahi Astabal Lane in Garden Reach area of Kolkata. Amir Khan was absconding at that point of time. Later, he was arrested on September 24, which followed a series of fresh recoveries both by Kolkata Police and the central agency.

Khan had launched a mobile gaming application named E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding the public. During the initial period, the users were rewarded with commission and the balance in the wallet could be withdrawn in a hassle-free manner which provided confidence to the users, who started investing bigger amounts for greater percentage of commission and a greater number of purchase orders.

After collecting handsome amounts from the public, all of a sudden withdrawal from the said app was stopped on one pretext or the other. Thereafter, all data, including profile information, was wiped out from the said app server.

-IANS