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Thane Man Who Gifted 2.5 Crore Audi To Girlfriend Arrested In $300 Million Scam
CNN: Indian police arrest alleged ringleader of IRS scam
Bought Audi R8 for his girlfriend with Scam money
An alleged conman, who had gifted an Audi car worth Rs. 2.5 crore to his girlfriend, has been arrested by the Thane police following his deportation from Dubai. Sagar Thakkar, also known as 'Shaggy', is accused of masterminding a call centre scam in which thousands of victims, mostly from South Asia, were extorted by callers pretending to be US tax officers threatening them with arrest and deportation of they did not remit money to the government.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, Thakkar is said to have extorted nearly $300 million from the scam, which has been operational since 2013. A US attorney in Texas set charges against a total of 56 people and five Indian companies for conspiracy to commit identity theft, impersonation of an officer of the US, wire fraud and money laundering.
The scam was unearthed when the police raided call centres at Mira Road in Thane district on October 4 last year. A lookout notice was subsequently issued against him on October 7, two days after he fled the country. Thakkar was picked up from Mumbai airport on Friday night by the police. The police had earlier arrested Jagdish Kanani, with whom Thakkar began working at the
The police said that 24-year-old Sagar Thakkar led an affluent life and was a regular figure in the Mumbai party circle. He was accompanied around by a battery of bouncers and bodyguards and was fond of high-end vehicles.
Investigators added that he had purchased an Audi R8 car, valued at Rs. 2.5 crore, from cricketer Virat Kohli in May last year. However, Thane police chief Param Bir Singh said that Mr Kohli was an "innocent seller" who had no idea who he was dealing with. The luxury car was seized from Ahmedabad
Thakkar had supposedly purchased the car for his girlfriend as a birthday present.
CNN: Indian police arrest alleged ringleader of IRS scam
Police in India have arrested a man they say was the ringleader of a network of call centers that allegedly swindled thousands of Americans out of millions of dollars.
Sagar Thakkar, 24, was detained in Mumbai after arriving on a flight from Dubai on Saturday.
"He was the mastermind of IRS scam call centers in the state of Maharashtra and one center in Ahmedabad," said Mukund Hatote, assistant commissioner of police in Thane, just north of Mumbai.
Hatote said Thakkar stands accused of extortion, cheating, impersonation, criminal conspiracy as well as violating India's communications and tech laws.
News of the scam broke last October when Indian police raided nine calls centers -- eight in Thane in Maharashtra -- and arrested more than 70 people on suspicion of posing as IRS agents to steal cash from U.S. citizens.
Workers at bogus call centers used American accents to impersonate IRS agents. They told their victims that they owed back taxes and would risk arrest if they hung up or failed to pay up.
Thakkar -- also known as "Shaggy" -- was one of 61 defendants mentioned in a U.S. indictment unsealed last October. The bogus call center workers were accused of stealing from 15,000 people by using the IRS scam and other fraud schemes.
U.S. prosecutors say the defendants also posed as immigration officers and threatened victims with deportation unless they paid a fine immediately. They said in October that 20 people across eight U.S. states had been arrested.
Indian police say they have charged more than 390 people in connection with the scheme, and more than 12 remain in jail.
Bought Audi R8 for his girlfriend with Scam money