Loan app scam: Inside Nepal call centre used to harass Indian borrowers

Mumbai was the prime target of three call centres that were recently busted by the Nepal police over instant loan apps Run by Chinese nationals these call centresmdashat Tinkune and Thamel in Kathmandu and Butwal in Rupandehi districtmdashsucked out hundreds of crores of rupees from Indiarsquos financial capital every month The Nepal police action came after midday broke the story on the instant loan app scam followed by a series of reportsSources in the Nepal police said the callers or recovery agents were paid between Nepalese rupees 55000 and 15 lakhmdashequivalent R34000 and R94000mdashevery month One of the call centres operated from Tinkuney just 1 km away from the Tribhuvan International Aiport in Nepal capital while the other was in Thamel a popular tourist place 4 km from the airport where 4 Chinese nationals were arrested from the third floor of a buildingAlso readLoan app scam Digital lending firms were cheating own employeesThe notice on the main gateThe size of the Tinkune call centre indicates the scale of operations of the Chinese loan sharks It can accommodate 1200 employees and ran a huge canteen that cooked food for about 1000 people a day with its monthly kitchen bill running into 60 lakh Nepalese rupeesAudio played at tea shopA local resident who runs a tea shop near the Tinkuney call centre said they knew the employees were into the recovery of loans from Indians ldquoA lot of them would visit my tea stall and discuss work Sometimes they would play the recordings of abusefilled calls made to Indian borrowers but we had no idea what exactly was happening at the call centre until the police raided the placerdquo he saidFour Chinese nationals were arrested from a call centre at this building at Thamel in KathmanduThis correspondent found a security guard and a few caretakers at the call centre known as Sky World Service Centre ldquoNo one is allowed inside it has been sealed and no interviews are happening here now The owner has not come to the place since the raids were carried outrdquo said the guard Tinkune has a lot of commercial and residential areas and many call centres operate from this area due to its proximity to the Kathmandu airport The area is also known for the Nepal Oil Depot a heavily guarded facility that sits a few hundred metres from the call centre raided by the policeDIG Tek Prasad Rai information officer Nepal policeTwo Indians ran the showPolice sources said most employees at the call centre were made to call borrowers in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra A 19yearold Indian woman Neha Gupta was the group leader of the call centre ldquoShe led various groups and would take interviews of Nepali nationals who were good at Hindi and could communicate with Indians and give threats to them for recovery of loansrdquo said an officer of the Kathmandu police privy to the investigationGupta drew a monthly salary of 65000 Nepalese rupees and commissions based on recovery Originally from Bihar the young woman was living in Kathmandu for the past yearThe police during the raid at the Thamel call centre in Nepal capitalAnother Indian identified as 26yearold Manish Saini was the manager and was paid around 1 lakh plus commission Saini a source said would provide the content and scripts to the employees who would then target Indian borrowers ldquoWe have kept them in the lockup and every angle of the case is being probed by our team We have sent hundreds of laptops and computers to the forensic team to recover data to get the exact details as to what they were doingrdquo said Dineshraj Mainali spokesperson of the Kathmandu policeThe call centre at Butwal The Chinese nationals behind it are on the runSources said Gupta and Saini came to Nepal in February 2021 and joined the call centre in November 2021 ldquoThe call centre was being operated from January We suspect before some other Indians also worked with the call centre and later they shifted to India to set up call centres thererdquo said a Nepal police officer who did not wish to come on recordChinese came in posh carsHu Yuehua said locals was the head of the Tinkune call centre Now arrested Hu would visit the premises once a week in highend cars ldquoThe police had kept a watch The day the Chinese national came on his routine visit they raided the place and arrested 36 people including him and the Indiansrdquo said a former employee who quit after learning that the work was illegal Yuehua came to Nepal at the same time the Indians arrivedKathmandu police headquarters Cops have arrested 190 people so farAnother Chinese denThe questioning of those arrested at Tinkune call centre led the police to the one at Thamel a famous tourist place This call centre with no name operated from the third floor of a building inside the compound of the Vienna Hotel The local market is also a hub for Nepali attire stone jewellery and tea Most hotels in the area have bustling nightlifeSources said the entire building had been rented by Chinese nationals It has some offices for Chinese nationals related to architecture and one hospital for Chinese people ldquoDuring the raid we arrested four Chinese nationals and seized 27 laptops and 472 mobile phones 40 SIM cards and recharge vouchers worth Nepalese rupees 190000rdquo said an officer who was part of the raid teamManish Saini an Indian was a manager of Tinkune call centre right Neha Gupta from Bihar worked as a group leaderWhen midday team visited the place we found the entire building empty The guard said nobody from the staff had visited the call centre since the raid He said the area has a large Chinese population and many of them used to work in the building ldquoWe are analysing their mobile phones and the seized electronic gadgets and we believe that this centre was meant to collect details of monetary transactions and coordinate with other centres not only in Nepal but in Indiardquo said another officer requesting anonymity The Kathmandu police have not invoked sections of their cyber laws Instead they have booked the suspects for creating public nuisance and obstructions where the maximum punishment is just one year with a fine of 10000 Nepalese rupees The offences are bailableMorphed pic specialistsThe police arrested 150 people from the call centre at Butwal city in the district of Rupandehi 200 km from Kathmandu It was run in the name of Blue Sky Call Centre ldquoMost of the morphed photographs sent to Indian borrowers to recover the loan amounts originated from this call centre The employees were also sending promotional messages of loan apps and some other cybercrimes were also taking place from this centrerdquo said DIG Tek Prasad Rai information officer of the Nepal policeThe investigators have found that this centre was also run by Chinese nationals who were perhaps tipped before the raids and went into hiding Sources said that the Rupandehi and Kathmandu call centres are linked to each other After setting up the call centres in Kathmandu and Rupandehi sources said the scam masterminds gave job advertisements in Nepal only for Hindus Most of the arrested agents got offers through an organisation called Job LinkSources said many more call centres being run by Chinese nationals are on the radar of the Nepal police while a few have shut down after last weekrsquos raids ldquoOur intelligence says that these centres are responsible for various cybercrimes in Nepal as well as in Indiardquo5No of Chinese nationals held in Nepal so far1200Capacity of Tinkune call centre