Indian Head of Chinese Ponzi Scam Arrested by Odisha EOW from Tamil Nadu

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha arrested the Indian head of a Chinese racket in Tamil Nadu on Monday. The accused, S. Chitravel, was apprehended in Aviyur near Madurai for his alleged leadership role in a large-scale Chinese earning app scam.

Chitravel was a director of “Bettec Technologies Private Limited,” which was one of the shell companies set up by the Chinese mastermind, Guanhua Wang, and his associates in Bangalore in 2019.

The operation focused on illegal digital Loan Apps, which tragically led to several cases of suicide among the victims. Chitravel oversaw a group that not only coerced victims but also employed tactics such as sending manipulated explicit images of the loan recipients and their acquaintances.

Following the crackdown on loan apps, the group shifted its focus to Earning Apps and online betting, resorting to morphed images of celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, and others in their online ads to attract new investors.

The scammers developed their software and apps in China, but they strategically registered and uploaded them from India to give the illusion of Indian origins. This tactic was employed to mask the true source of these fraudulent activities.