Oswal's Digital Arrest: ED Recovers Rs 5.24 Cr of Rs 7 Cr Stolen

The Enforcement Directorate said it had searched 11 locations across five states in connection with an anti-money laundering case in a digital arrest scam in which Ludhiana-based industrialist S.P. Oswal lost more than Rs.7 crore. About Rs.5.24 crore has been recovered, the ED said.

The searches were conducted on Monday in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Assam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. "Various incriminating documents and digital devices were recovered and seized during search proceedings," an ED spokesperson said in a statement.

The ED had arrested Rumi Kalita from Assam on Tuesday after it surfaced that she had allegedly offered her account for transferring funds in the case, in exchange for a certain percentage of the money. Kalita has been sent to ED custody till January 2.

The agency had launched a money-laundering probe on the basis of 10 FIRs registered by various police stations regarding cybercrime/digital arrest related to the same group of criminals.

"The ED investigation revealed that during the digital arrest of S.P. Oswal, the fraudsters impersonating officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation and by using forged official and judicial documents forced him to transfer `7 crore in the various accounts out of which `5.24 crore were recovered from the accounts and were transferred back," the ED spokesperson said.

The agency said the remaining funds were transferred to various mule accounts maintained in the name of various entities and persons, including labourers and delivery agents, which were either further diverted or withdrawn in cash immediately.

Another round of searches was conducted on January 31 in the case, which resulted in the recovery and seizure of incriminating documents.