Hyderabad: In a significant development in the investigation into a Hyderabad-based call centre racket that allegedly targeted US citizens, officials of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) visited the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Hyderabad on Wednesday and exchanged information on a fraud network suspected to have generated proceeds of crime worth around ₹200 crore.The FBI team met ED officials at the agency’s Basheerbagh office and obtained details of the ongoing money laundering investigation into the syndicate, which allegedly impersonated US govt agencies and private technical support firms to defraud American nationals.According to investigators, members of the network allegedly threatened victims with action over purported tax defaults, loan dues or “illegal activities” and coerced them into making payments.US alert led to probeThe case has its origins in an FIR registered by Madhapur police in 2023 after the US embassy and Interpol flagged a fraudulent operation targeting American citizens through fake technical support and govt impersonation calls.The ED subsequently launched a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and linked the operation to a larger CBI case registered in Sept 2024 against illegal call centres accused of targeting foreign nationals.Among those arrested are Vikas Kumar Nimar alias Misty, identified by the ED as an operator of the syndicate; his father Tarachand Nimar, an Army pensioner; and Mohammed Irfan Ansari, whom the agency has described as a principal controller of the network.Gift cards converted into cryptoAccording to the ED, victims were reportedly persuaded to purchase Amazon gift cards, which were later redeemed through overseas vendors and converted into cryptocurrency. Investigators allege that the proceeds were subsequently routed back to India through crypto traders, hawala and angadia channels before being layered through multiple bank accounts.The ED has alleged that Ansari, who was arrested on Aug 10, admitted to operating fake call centres since around 2017, with average monthly collections of $60,000 to $70,000.ED’s analysis of bank transactions also allegedly revealed transfers from Ansari’s accounts to associates, including Vikas Nimar, and the use of accounts belonging to relatives for routing funds linked to the operation.
