Ahmedabad, May 7 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Police on Thursday busted an illegal international call centre operating from a residential flat in the Naroda area, allegedly involved in defrauding United States citizens by posing as representatives of a fictitious loan company and collecting fraudulent processing fees.

The raid was carried out by the Naroda police following specific intelligence received during patrolling near Karaikat Cross Roads.

A police team led by Sub-Inspector V.R. Chaudhary, under the supervision of senior officers, conducted a search operation at Flat No. 607 in Aatrey Ivaan-3 society in the presence of independent panch witnesses and in accordance with legal procedures.

Police said one individual, identified as Krunal Chawla, was initially found at the premises.

During the search, officers discovered five persons operating what appeared to be a fully functional call centre equipped with laptops, mobile phones and headsets.

Three of the accused were seated on a bed using laptops, while two others were working nearby on similar devices.

Investigators said the accused allegedly impersonated employees of a company named “Advance America” to target American citizens.

Police stated that the group used illegally obtained databases containing contact details of US residents and sent forged loan approval documents to gain the victims’ trust.

Victims were allegedly informed that their loans had been approved and were persuaded to share sensitive personal information, including Social Security Numbers (S.N.N.).

The accused then demanded “processing fees” for the purported loan disbursement. Police said the payments were collected through gift cards, which were later converted into Indian currency through intermediaries.

The accused have been identified as Manish Jagdishkumar, 25; Jayesh Makwana, 30; Krunal Chawla, 25; and Dinesh Kalyani, 33, along with one juvenile.

Police also identified Mayur Manglani, Sujul Manglani and Ashish alias Kevin as suspected associates involved in routing and converting the proceeds of the alleged fraud.

During the raid, police seized five laptops, 10 mobile phones, four headphones, one keyboard, three computer mice, printed call scripts and fake letterheads allegedly used in the operation. The total value of the seized material has been estimated at Rs 2.17 lakh.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-4) Atul Kumar Bansal told IANS that Manish had been identified as the main accused and mastermind behind the operation.

“He had earlier operated illegal call centres in Kerala and Goa before recently shifting the operation to Ahmedabad, where he assembled a team to run the fraud network,” Bansal said.

He added that police were investigating the total amount involved in the fraud and verifying whether cases had been registered against the accused in other states. “No cases against the group have been registered in Gujarat so far,” he confirmed.

Police said the setup had been designed to resemble a legitimate international customer service centre and was operating from a rented residential flat.

Scripted communication material was allegedly used to standardise conversations with victims and maintain the appearance of authenticity.

A case has been registered at Naroda Police Station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery, along with sections of the Information Technology Act related to identity theft and electronic fraud.

Further investigation is underway to trace the wider network involved and establish the flow of funds generated through the alleged scam.

–IANS

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