Chinese national, two held in Noida over shell firms, hawala racket

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) arrested three people, including a Chinese national, for allegedly operating shell companies and carrying out hawala transactions under the cover of a mobile cover manufacturing company

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) arrested three people, including a Chinese national, for allegedly operating shell companies and carrying out hawala transactions under the cover of a mobile cover manufacturing company.

Police recovered cheques worth ₹4.7 crore, laptops, phones and forged documents. The accused allegedly inflated import bills and routed funds to China. (FIle photo)

Police said the companies had been operating in India for the past five to six years. Cheques worth over ₹4 crore and incriminating documents were recovered.

Police said they had been receiving inputs about fake companies illegally transferring money from India to China. Acting on a tip-off, the UPSTF identified such firms and began investigating a company allegedly run by a Chinese national.

Rajkumar Mishra, additional superintendent of police, UPSTF (Noida), said, “A 38-year-old Chinese national, a native of Fuzhao, China, and a resident of Sector 93, Noida, along with his two Indian associates from Ghaziabad and Auraiya, was called for questioning. They said the company’s documents were kept at the Sector 93 residence.”

During search, police recovered cheque books of several shell companies, documents and a fake Nagaland Aadhaar card belonging to the Chinese national. All three were arrested on Wednesday night.

Police said the Chinese national, who had allegedly been residing in India after his visa expired in 2020, revealed that the company was set up by his father-in-law and brother-in-law in 2018.

Mishra said, “The company imported raw materials from China at inflated prices to manufacture mobile phone covers in India, sold the finished products in Delhi at lower prices and sent the remaining money to China through hawala channels.”

Police said a Noida resident and a shareholder in the company was arrested for obtaining PAN and GST registration through forged documents in 2019. A case was registered at Beta 2 Police Station.

The accused also operated shell companies registered in Hong Kong and other jurisdictions to facilitate money laundering. Police recovered cheques worth ₹4.7 crore,15,400 in cash, five laptops, nine mobile phones, 11 cheque books, and other documents.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 at Phase 2 Police Station.