ED Crackdown On Chinese Loan Sharks, Seizes Rs 17 Cr In Raids At Paytm, Razorpay, Cashfree Premises

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it is conducting raids at Bengaluru premises of online payment gateways like Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree as part of an ongoing probe against “illegal” instant smartphone-based loans “controlled” by Chinese persons.

The searches were launched Friday at six premises in Karnataka’s capital city, it said in a statement. The search operation is in progress, the Enforcement Directorate said.

The federal probe agency said it has seized Rs 17 crore worth funds kept in “merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese persons-controlled entities”, during the raids.

The entities are said to have generated proceeds of crime through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks. An amount of Rs 17 crore was seized in merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese persons-controlled entities. The agency has frozen the bank accounts of these Chinese entities.