The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint before the special PMLA court against seven entities and five people involved in Chinese loan apps.
The accused entities include three fintech companies: Mad Elephant Network Technology Private Limited, Baryonyx Technology Private Limited, and Cloud Atlas Future Technology Private Limited, which are allegedly controlled by Chinese nationals; three NBFCs registered with the RBI, namely, X10 Financial Services Private Limited, Track Fin-ed Private Limited, and Jamnadas Morarjee Finance Private Limited; and one payment gateway, Razorpay Software Private Limited, said an ED release.
Earlier, the ED attached ₹77.25 crore lying in bank accounts and payment gateways. The ED had initiated an investigation based on FIRs registered by CID, Bengaluru, following complaints received from customers who had availed loans and faced harassment from the recovery agent of these money lending companies.
An investigation conducted by the ED revealed that the fintech companies have agreements with respective NBFCs for the disbursement of loans through digital lending apps. During the investigation, it was revealed that the money-lending business was being illegally run by these fintech companies, and these NBFCs knowingly let them use their names for the sake of getting commission without being careful about the conduct of these fintech companies, the ED said, adding that this is also a violation of the Fair Practices Code of RBI.