Latest news with #MLAT
The Hindu
24-07-2025
- The Hindu
CCB takes over investigation into hoax email bomb threats; seeks inputs from other intelligence units
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has taken over the investigation into the hoax email bomb threats sent to 43 schools in the city last week. The CCB officials have also held discussions with intelligence units to gain a fresh perspective on the case. On July 18, panic spread across 41 schools in the city, following bomb threats that prompted the schools to send students home just hours after classes had begun. The threats were later turned out to be a hoax. Four days later, two more schools in eastern and central Bengaluru received similar email threats. Although individual complaints had already been registered, the CCB has now taken over the investigation, including the two cases filed subsequently. A senior officer overseeing the investigation told The Hindu that they are determined to get to the root of the matter, and hence they discussed several interconnected issues with other divisions of the police department and intelligence units. According to a source, investigators held a meeting on Wednesday with the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Internal Security Division (ISD), and the Anti-Terrorism Squad/Unit (ATS). 'The agenda of the meeting was to gather diverse perspectives on the case and brainstorm potential new strategies to approach the investigation,' the officer told The Hindu. The participating departments typically handle classified cases and possess historical data, which could offer leads and assist the investigation, another source said. The senior officer said that they received valuable inputs from these departments, but declined to share further details, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. But the officer revealed that a request had been sent to the email service provider used by the suspect to issue the hoax bomb threats, and a response is awaited. The suspect also employed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to mask their identity, the officer noted. Police are optimistic about receiving useful information from the service provider, as their preliminary assessment indicated a favourable stance. However, a senior officer experienced in handling cybercrime cases warned that relying solely on a response from the email service provider could stall the investigation. This caution is based on past cases where similar requests for information did not produce any useful outcomes. According to data reviewed by The Hindu, miscreants sent 53 hoax bomb threat emails to various institutions and establishments in 2023, 64 in 2024, and 20 in 2025, excluding the recent threats. Of these, fewer than 10 cases from 2023 have been solved, while 11 from 2024 have been resolved. All the cases that were successfully solved were relatively simple, as the threat emails were not sent using a VPN, the officer explained. Moreover, international avenues such as Interpol and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) have proved ineffective for investigators handling hoax email threat cases. By the end of 2024, the Karnataka's Criminal Investigation Department had sent nearly 30 MLAT requests, but only seven received responses, and none of those contained actionable details, according to a CID source.
India Gazette
31-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Delhi court issues open ended NBW against 3 accused in money laundering case
New Delhi [India], May 31 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue court issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against three persons, including a company's CMD, in a money laundering case linked to a Rs 1200 crore bank fraud case. This case is related to Amira Pure Foods Private Limited. Two of the accused are not in India. According to the report of the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Karan A Chanana left the country in 2017 and Anita Daing in 2016. Special CBI judge Amitabh Rawat issued an open-ended warrant against three persons: Karan A Chanana, Anita Daing and Rajesh Arora. Open-ended NBWs are warrants without a date for execution and do not have a time limit. Special judge on May 28 disposed of the application filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 5, 2025, for issuance of open-ended Non-Bailable Warrant against accused persons, namely Karan A. Chanana, Anita Daing and Rajesh Arora. 'Let it be executed through lawful available means in respect of the accused not in India,' special judge Amitabh Rawat said in the order passed on May 28. The application for cancellation of the NBW issued against Karan A Chanana was also dismissed by the court on May 28. ED had prayed for issuance of open-ended Non-Bailable Warrant against three respondents, namely Karan A. Chanana, Anita Daing and Rajesh Arora. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Simon Benjamin, Manish Jain, alongwith Snehal Shard, appeared for ED. It was submitted that the investigation under PMLA conducted by the Prosecuting Agency is being prejudiced and adversely affected due to continued non-compliance with the summons issued by the Prosecuting Agency. It was further submitted that these three are Directors/Ex-Directors and key decision-makers of M/s Amira Pure Foods Private Limited, the defaulting entity, and their joining of the investigation is necessary to bring the investigation to its logical end. Investigation related to these accused persons is pending. A Prosecution complaint against some other accused has already been filed. Enforcement Directorate (ED) had made effort to serve summons dated 08.11.2024 at Karan A Chanana's London based known addresses through MHA under MLAT. Chanana was directed to appear in person before this Directorate on 14.02.2025 in compliance of the Summons. However, Karan A. Chanana failed to comply with the said summons and a response was received vide letter dated 01.02.2025 (received through email dated 02.02.2025) wherein his representative informed that Karan A Chanana is unable to make himself physically present on 14.02.2025 due to his deteriorating health condition. Earlier on November 20 2024, Non Bailable Warrants (NBW) against these accused were issued by the court. It was also submitted that the respondents deliberately, intentionally, and knowingly avoided their presence before the IO in compliance with summons issued under Section 50(2) and (3) of PMLA. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR on 23.11.2020 under Section 120B, 420, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Act, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, on the basis of a complaint dated 17.11.2020 filed by Canara Bank. In the said FIR, it was alleged that the accused company, M/s Amira Pure Foods Private Limited, through its Directors, Promoters, Employees, and others, committed fraud by siphoning and diverting funds, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud, etc., causing wrongful loss to the tune of approximately Rs 1201.85 crores to the consortium of banks led by Canara Bank. On the basis of the CBI FIR, ED had registered the present case 22.06.2022 under PMLA. It was argued that investigation conducted by the Directorate revealed that M/s Amira Pure Foods Private limited was sanctioned fund based and non - fund based limits by a consortium of Banks led by Canara Bank to the tune of approximately Rs 1,367 crores from 2009 to 2016. The stated purpose of the loan as per the loan documents was, inter-alia, for working capital requirements. The account of the company was declared as Non Performing Asset (NPA) on 29.09.2017. The account of M/s APFPL was declared as fraud by all the member Banks to the tune of approximately Rs 1,201 crores. The company not only defaulted in repayment of interest but also failed to submit its financial statements, net worth particulars of guarantors, routed transactions outside consortium lenders, did not enable stock audits etc, it was added. Investigations by ED showed that said entity siphoned off/ diverted the borrowed money to the tune of Rs 734.20 crores through non-genuine and sham business transactions with various fictitious entities, which were used as a conduit for the diversion of money of the lenders. (ANI)
The Star
26-05-2025
- The Star
Youth hooked on AI child porn
Authorities leading multi-national effort to combat issue, find offenders PETALING JAYA: Artificial intelligence (AI)-generated deepfakes are driving a steep rise in synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and fuelling addictions to such content, particularly among minors. Bukit Aman Criminal Investigations Department (CID) sexual, women and child investigation division (D11) principal assistant director Senior Asst Comm Siti Kamsiah Hassan ( pic ) said AI is increasingly being misused to generate hyper-realistic CSAM, including deepfake imagery, which is complicating detection and posing challenges for law enforcement in bringing those behind it to book. She said offenders are also exploiting encrypted messaging applications and dark web forums to share CSAM and are communicating anonymously. SAC Siti Kamsiah said such misuse has also led to a surge in sextortion cases, especially targeted at minors and through social media platforms. 'Many of these victims received threats that traumatised them severely and drove them to suicide. Our latest findings based on the cases under investigation show a rise in underage or teenage offenders who have developed an addiction to pornography. Many were found to have downloaded and stored CSAM in cloud storage or their email accounts,' she said in an interview recently. Earlier this month, SAC Siti Kamsiah led a team from her division alongside other units of the CID in a collaborative effort with the Dutch authorities to exchange advanced strategies for combating CSAM and identifying offenders. She said the meeting enabled both nations to carry out crucial discussions on the technical and legislative challenges faced by the authorities. 'We can see how a CyberTipline Report, channelled through the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), could serve as a document for presentation in court, even in the absence of a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT), or as evidence when none is available against an offender. 'We also discussed the legality of ratifying the acceptance of data evidence obtained by police through hacking into the computers of offenders. 'The sharing of invaluable knowledge and information in the meeting was very beneficial to our police force, especially for the D11. It will definitely help make us a united, capable and responsive unit in countering the threat of sexual crimes against children in cyberspace,' she said. Representatives of the Dutch authorities comprised Netherlands police attache Eddy Assens, Transnational Sexual Child Abuse Expertise Centre programme manager Jan van der Helm and Netherlands Public Prosecution Service officers Linda van den Oever, Nicole Smits and Meike Willebrands.
Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
In Thailand, UAE, USA: ED attaches 30 overseas assets in in Rs 4500 crore Pancard club investment fraud
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mumbai has provisionally attached 30 overseas assets in connection with the Rs 4,500 crore Pancard club investment fraud, the agency said on Thursday. The attached assets, of which 22 are in Thailand, six in UAE and two in USA, are held in the name of overseas subsidiaries of M/s Panoramic Universal Ltd, Mumbai (PUL) and accused (late) Sudhir Moravekar. ED said that these assets were acquired by making total payments equivalent to Rs 54.32 crore during the period from 2002 to 2015. ED's action is based on the criminal case Mumbai police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had filed. While the said properties are located in a foreign country, following due procedure ED through the Indian government can send a request under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to concerned countries for further recovery of proceeds of the crime. As per Mumbai police's case, during the period from the year 1997 to 2017, M/s Pan Card Limited (PCL) unauthorisedly collected investments from around 50 lakh investors across India and failed to return more than Rs 5,000 crore to many of these investors. After thorough investigation, EOW filed a chargesheet against M/s PCL, PUL and other 44 related companies, 6 Directors of M/s PCL and 5 marketing representatives of M/s PCL under various sections of IPC, 1860 and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act,1999. When the ED commenced their money laundering investigation, they found that Pancard Clubs Ltd. and its directors floated various investment schemes of different durations ranging from 3 to 9 years, with a promise of hotel discounting, accidental insurance and other benefits including high rate of returns against the deposits made by the public, ignoring prevailing norms of SEBI or Reserve Bank of India (RBI). ED also found Proceeds of Crime (POC) amounting to around Rs 99 crore were diverted from PCL to PUL apart from diversion of POC, to the personal accounts of family members of deceased accused Sudhir Moravekar, the agency stated in a statement on Thursday. The agency added that their probe also revealed that during the year 2002, a hotel in New Zealand was bought through Overseas Direct Investments (ODI) by PUL. The asset was sold later and the wholly-owned subsidiary in New Zealand was closed without duly reporting to RBI/Bank. Besides this, ODI investments were also made in the USA, UAE, Thailand, Singapore and remittances equivalent to approximately Rs 100 crore were sent during the period from 2002 to 2014. Assets were acquired in the name of these overseas subsidiary entities. It is also revealed that both the sons of late Sudhir Moravekar were planning to sell some of these assets in the USA and UAE.
New Indian Express
26-04-2025
- New Indian Express
Cyber crackdown: 383 pornography cases registered in Kerala since 2016
KOCHI: With timely police intervention effecting a significant drop in , the police have shifted their focus to curbing other forms of cybercrime, particularly the transmission and circulation of pornographic content. According to data with the Kerala Police, the cyber police wings across the state have registered 383 cases since 2016 related to the uploading and sharing of pornographic material online. Between 2016 and February 2025, as many as 175 cases were filed under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act for publishing or transmitting obscene content electronically. Additionally, 151 cases were registered under Section 67A of the IT Act, pertaining to sexually explicit material. Child pornography accounted for 46 cases during the period while 11 cases were related to the circulation of rape content. 'Public awareness campaigns on cyber financial frauds have made people more vigilant, which has led to a decline in such cases this year,' said an officer with the Cyber Operations Wing of Kerala Police. 'Similar awareness efforts will be extended to tackle other cyber offences. When it comes to transmitting obscene content, we conduct frequent crackdowns, and a significant number of offenders have been arrested.' Other forms of cybercrime also remain on the radar. Since 2016, a total of 69 cases of cyberbullying and 62 cases of identity theft or profile hacking have been registered. Further, 95 cases involved provocative speeches online, 40 were related to data breaches, 20 to email hacking, 45 to website hacking, six involved ransomware attacks, and six were tied to cyber terrorism. The officer highlighted the use of international mechanisms like the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to gather data from foreign-based digital platforms. 'MLAT enables enforcement agencies in other countries to assist us in collecting key information. We are also working to improve direct engagement with these platforms to support investigations more efficiently.' Despite progress, police officials point out that staffing remains a challenge. Kerala currently operates 20 cyber police stations with a total staff strength of 402, including three deputy superintendents of police, 27 inspectors, 32 sub-inspectors, 43 assistant sub-inspectors, and 83 senior civil police officers, among others. 'Given the increasing volume of cybercrime, the current manpower is insufficient. While regular police stations continue to register cyber cases, more complex cases are often forwarded to the cyber police units,' the officer added.
