Overview

• ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office conducted coordinated searches on July 11–12 in Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Jabalpur under the PMLA, seizing 7 kg of gold, 62 kg of silver, ₹1.18 crore in cash and documents on immovable assets
• Partners Sanjay More and Ajit Soni of M/s Magnatel BPS Consultants and LLP were arrested in Jaipur after the probe linked them to the fake call centre operations
• The Pune-based call centre, operating since July 2024 from the Pride Icon Building, impersonated bank officials to offer bogus loans and harvest U.S. citizens’ banking credentials
• Illicit proceeds estimated in millions of dollars were routed through U.S.-based accomplices, converted into USDT cryptocurrency, and smuggled back via traditional hawala channels
• A significant share of the laundered funds was spent on bullion, jewellery, vehicles and real estate and investigators are pursuing additional suspects to recover remaining stolen money