Court issues non-bailable warrants against two prime accused in ₹127-crore Pune fake call centre scam

A special court has issued non-bailable warrants for two key suspects in a ₹127-crore fake call centre scam targeting Americans, evading arrest.

MUMBAI: In a major development in the ₹127-crore fake call centre scam that preyed on unsuspecting Americans, a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has issued non-bailable warrants against two prime accused who have been evading investigators for months.

Court issues non-bailable warrants against two prime accused in ₹127-crore Pune fake call centre scam

Additional sessions judge RB Rote passed the order last week against Ketav Ajay Ravani and Karan Singh Shekhawat, following a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency told the court that despite multiple summonses, the duo had refused to appear, even as evidence mounted linking them to one of Pune’s most elaborate cyber-fraud networks.

The case traces back to a complaint filed by the Pune Cyber Police under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act, 2000. Investigators had unearthed a full-fledged international scam being run from the ninth floor of the Pride Icon building on Kharadi–Mundhwa Road — a nerve centre of deceit operating under the name Magnatel BPS and Consultants LLP.

Here, a team of young telecallers, posing as Amazon representatives, allegedly cold-called American citizens and told them their accounts were being misused for drug trafficking. Panicked victims were coerced into transferring money in Bitcoin, cash, gold, or gift cards, which the gang later channelled into India through hawala operators in Gujarat.

According to the ED’s submission, Ravani was the “key person” at the call centre — handling crypto wallets, paying operational costs, and funnelling illicit proceeds. The probe found that he regularly transferred USDT (a cryptocurrency) to the wallet of Shekhawat for daily expenses. He is also accused of collecting large amounts of cash through angadia couriers, which was allegedly used to buy gold bars and properties in his and his family members’ names.

Both accused were already shown as absconding in the charge sheet filed before the judicial magistrate first class, Pune. The court observed that they were “involved in serious non-bailable offences” and had been “deliberately evading arrest.”

“It appears that the accused is involved in the scheduled offence as well as in the offence punishable under section 4 of the PMLA and is evading arrest and not cooperating with the investigation,” judge Rote noted, invoking section 75 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, to order the non-bailable warrants.

The ED has pegged the total proceeds of crime at ₹127 crore, adding that the custodial interrogation of the absconding accused is crucial to “trace and unearth the vast money trail that crosses borders and currencies.”