Latest news with #fictitious
Hindustan Times
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
ECI suspends 4 West Bengal govt officers over fictitious voters in electoral roll
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday suspended four West Bengal government officers – two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) – for allegedly adding names of fictitious voters into the electoral roll and compromising data security, officials said. The Election Commission of India office in New Delhi. (REUTERS) The poll panel also directed the state chief secretary to lodge FIRs against the four officers and a data entry operator. The two EROs are West Bengal Civil Service (executive) officers. 'The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal had forwarded a report on July 29 informing about the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls by EROs and AEROs of Baruipur Purba and Moyna assembly constituencies. It has been reported that the said officers have not only failed to perform duty as ERO and AERO while disposing off the applications but also violated the policy of data security while sharing their login credentials of the electoral roll database with unauthorized persons,' the ECI stated in its letter to the West Bengal chief secretary. Earlier, the poll panel, during a sample checking of applications from new voters in the state, had found that the two EROs accepted a large number of Form 6 from alleged fictitious voters, officials aware of the developments said. Further enquiry revealed that the mandatory verification by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were also allegedly not done in those cases. The officers also provided user access to ERO Net, a centralised system that helps election officials with electoral roll management, to unauthorised users. After the lapses came to light, the CEO of West Bengal ordered district officials to take immediate action. District Magistrates, who double up as District Election Officers (DEOs), were asked to set up teams comprising senior officers and investigate all Form 6 disposals carried out over the past year. This comes amidst speculations that after Bihar, a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would be conducted in West Bengal, where assembly elections are scheduled to be held in 2026. The poll panel has already asked political parties in the state to submit the list of their Booth Level Agents and training is being imparted to BLOs. 'The officers shall be placed under suspension for their failure in supervising the election related work, with immediate effect and suitable disciplinary proceedings be initiated against them without delay. In addition, FIRs be lodged against the erring EROs and AEROs for their action which potentially amounts to criminal misconduct. Furthermore, FIR shall also be lodged against the casual data entry operator,' the ECI letter stated. Meanwhile, a political row has already erupted between the ruling-Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state and its arch rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the possible implementation of SIR in West Bengal. 'We welcome the move by the ECI. The people of West Bengal want an electoral roll free of illegal Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, dead voters and voters with multiple entries. The people have seen how the ruling TMC conducts the panchayat and municipal polls. Law-and-order has deteriorated and citizen's right to vote are being infringed upon. The administration has been politicised,' Samik Bhattacharya, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP, told media persons. 'Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, has recently said that FIRs were lodged against more than 400 government officers in Bihar and more than 50 were arrested during the SIR exercise. If someone is genuinely at fault, the ECI is free to take action. But we want to ask whether the ECI is following the lines in which Adhikari has spoken to create a fear psychosis among government officers,' Debangshu Bhattacharya, TMC state spokesperson, told media persons.
CNBC
30-07-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
Woman pleads guilty in $30M scam that sold access to Trump fundraiser, fake U.S. residency
A New York woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with a years-long $30 million investment scam that, among other things, sold foreign nationals access to a 2017 fundraiser for President Donald Trump and a photo-op with the president. Sherry Xue Li pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip, Long Island, to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission's administration of campaign finance. The Oyster Bay resident "orchestrated a nearly decade-long scheme to defraud investors in a fictitious development project out of more than $30 million," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement. "As part of the scheme, Li and her co-defendant Lianbo Wang falsely promised those investors that their investments would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the United States," the office said. Li and Wang also sold foreign investors access to American politicians at "fundraisers by collecting foreign-sourced funds from them and unlawfully contributing those funds to U.S. political campaigns and committees," the office said. The scam duped investors into putting money into a fictitious development project in Sullivan County, New York, called the Thompson Education Center, or the TEC Project. Many of the victims were Chinese nationals. One of fundraisers was a June 28, 2017, fundraiser for Trump, then in his first term as president. Li and Wang charged 12 foreign nationals $93,000 per person for admission to that event and then made $600,000 in political contributions to the committee that hosted the fundraiser, according to a criminal complaint. Li, Wang, and their foreign national guests took photographs with Trump and the duo then "used a photograph of Li and the President taken at the June 28, 2017 Fundraiser to solicit investments in the TEC Project," prosecutors said. It is illegal for foreign money to be used to contribute to U.S. federal political campaigns. Li and Wang were both born and raised in China, but are naturalized U.S. citizens. The Trump campaign was not accused of wrongdoing in the case. "Li defrauded more than 150 victims in the United States and abroad through years of lies and deception and sought to profit by selling access to the democratic process," said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella. "In doing so, she attempted to corrupt a fundamental institution in this country — fair and transparent elections free from unlawful foreign influence," Nocella said. Li faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on Dec. 5. She agreed to forfeit $31.5 million, as well as property at three locations. Wang pleaded guilty in 2024 to engaging in unlawful monetary transactions and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Indian Express
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bengal Chief Electoral Officer of Bengal orders probe into Form 6 disposals; Suvendu calls it ‘scandalous betrayal of democracy'
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal Manoj Agarwal has written to all district administrations directing District Election Officers to form teams of senior officers and conduct sample checking of all Form 6 disposals – which are used to add names to voters' lists – made in the last year. The report is to be submitted to the CEO's office by August 14. In the letter, Agarwal stated: 'It has been revealed during sample checking of disposal of forms received during continuous updation that in some cases provisions of the Registration of Electors' Act, 1960 are not being followed.' The letter further noted: 'Sample checking of less than 1% Form 6 disposals by EROs during continuous updation has revealed that two (2) of them had accepted a considerable number of Form 6 for fictitious voters. In all these cases BLOs verification was dispensed with, without any apparent urgency/requirement and similar documents were captured for a large number of application forms and their verification reports. Both the EROs have since admitted that they had provided user access to the ERO next to the AERO/OC Election in BDO Office/ Casual Data Entry Operators who had thereafter disposed of the Form 6 applications.' The CEO has also directed DEOs to ensure that OC Election staff in BDO offices and casual or daily-wage contractual data entry operators are not involved in the disposal of Forms 6, 7, or 8, or in carrying out any functions in ERONet. Reacting to the letter, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari posted on X: 'This latest memo from the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal to all the District Election Officers (DMs) exposes a scandalous betrayal of democracy.' He said: 'Fictitious Voters added to the rolls and unauthorized meddling by Casual Data Entry Operators IS THE DEPTH OF CORRUPTION UNDER MAMATA BANERJEE'S RULE. Booth Level Officers pressured to fudge records, Electoral Registration Officers handing over Voter Lists related jobs to unqualified hands is an assault on every citizen's right to participate in a fair elections.' Adhikari demanded an 'immediate investigation and appropriate action against those responsible.' Meanwhile, CEO Manoj Agarwal left for Delhi on Tuesday evening to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. According to Commission sources, he will discuss when the special electoral roll revision in West Bengal should begin and what steps need to be taken before it starts. The CEO's office has already published data from the 2002 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, sparking speculation that the SIR may begin this August. Training for BLOs also began last Saturday. Agarwal said the ECI will conduct SIR training in this session. 'SIR may be held in future. Training will not happen again and again. The vote will be 6-8 months later. We will not be able to do these training [sessions] again,' he said. Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
News18
24-07-2025
- News18
STF probes suspected hawala racket linked to Ghaziabads fake embassy case
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Lucknow (UP), Jul 24 (PTI) The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police is investigating suspected hawala dealings of a self-proclaimed diplomat, who ran a fake 'embassy' of a fictitious nation 'West Arctica' that was busted in Ghaziabad's Kavinagar area, a senior official said in Thursday. Officials believe the lavish rented bungalow (KB-35) served as the central hub for all illegal financial operations. Harshvardhan Jain (47), the mastermind arrested by the STF on Tuesday, is now investigated for his international financial dealings. STF Senior Superintendent of Police Sushil Ghule stated on Thursday that Jain had established over a dozen firms in various European countries, often with partners. Senior STF officials strongly suspect that Jain exploited these companies to operate an extensive hawala network. The STF's initial investigation revealed that Jain, who holds a BBA degree from Ghaziabad and an MBA degree from London, cultivated connections with prominent figures in the international underworld. He reportedly came into contact with controversial godman Chandraswami in 2000, who allegedly introduced him to notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Ehsan Ali Syed, sources said. This suggests a sophisticated money laundering network operating under the facade of legitimate business, it said. Jain's international movements further highlight a complex financial web, the STF said. After relocating to Dubai in 2006, he formed several companies with Shafiq (from Hyderabad) and Ibrahim (from Dubai). He returned to India in 2011 and, since 2012, began styling himself as an advisor or ambassador to various non-existent or unrecognised 'micronations' such as 'Saborga", 'Lodonia", 'Poulvia.' It was under the guise of these fictitious diplomatic identities that he allegedly defrauded individuals with promises of overseas jobs and visas, often using vehicles equipped with fake diplomatic licence plates. The STF's Tuesday raid on his Kavinagar residence unearthed a cache of incriminating evidence, including 44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currencies, multiple forged diplomatic passports, 18 fake diplomatic number plates, forged seals of the Ministry of External Affairs, and seals of companies from 34 countries. While the STF focuses on the international hawala links, local police are also scrutinizing how Jain managed to run such an elaborate con job so openly for an extended period. 'We are looking into how Jain ran his operations and for how many years was he active," a senior Ghaziabad police official told PTI. Jain was previously arrested in 2011 after central agencies traced an unauthorized satellite phone he had brought from South Africa. While no anti-national activities were found then, a case was registered. PTI CDN ZMN view comments First Published: July 24, 2025, 20:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
AU Financial Review
24-07-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Developers, hospitality operators in firing line over GST fraud
Tax authorities are auditing some of the country's largest property, construction and hospitality companies over concerns that fictitious arrangements are being used to improperly claim GST refunds. In a warning issued on Thursday, the Australian Taxation Office explicitly noted large companies in property, construction and hospitality were being monitored. The ATO's investigation tools have flagged that an increasing number of these companies are likely to be wrongfully claiming, in some cases, tens of millions of dollars in GST refunds.
