CBI asks US for info on convicted NRIs
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked the US department of justice (DOJ) to provide information and documentation on Indians who commit crimes on American soil and are prosecuted there, particularly those who plead guilty in economic and cyber crimes.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide information and documents on Indian nationals, who commit crime on American soil and are prosecuted there, particularly the ones who plead guilty in economic and cyber crimes, so that their Indian links can be explored by law enforcement agencies in India, people familiar with the development said.
Cases of Indian nationals being involved in duping American citizens, or running unfair online practices being probed by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or local authorities in the US have come to notice lately which are being closely watched by Indian agencies.
Indictment of six persons including an Indian national – Nishad Kunju (31) from Hyderabad by a US grand jury in September this year for conspiring to pay over $100,000 in commercial bribes to employees and contractors of Amazon is the latest instance where CBI and other agencies want to explore the Indian aspect.
Another Indian national – Chirag Sachdeva pleaded guilty last month to the charges of participating in a telemarketing scheme to try to embezzle about $600,000 from seven elderly people in America. He was arrested by the FBI in February. In similar case, one Sudhish Kasaba Ramesh from India pleaded guilty earlier this year in the federal court in San Jose, California for intentionally accessing the protected computer of an information technology firm.
Indian agencies feel there are many more such cases of online frauds or cyber crimes where Indian citizens, based in the US, are involved and there is possibility they park their illegal money in India, or have associates here, which needs further scrutiny, people cited above said.
A senior DOJ official last week attended the three-day national conference on vigilance and corruption organized by the CBI, where the issue was taken up, said an officer who didn’t want to be named.
“We have asked DOJ to provide the all the relevant documents on Indians arrested/convicted there,” said second officer.
Lately, there has been enhanced cooperation between CBI and the DOJ. In fact, DOJ praised the premier anti-corruption probe agency earlier this month for conducting raids on six companies here in India as part of a parallel investigation in a technical support fraud scam masterminded by an American citizen working with various call centres here.
Both the authorities are also informally collaborating on matters like investigation against Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, who have investments in the US.
Sherbir Panag, Partner at Panag and Babu and international legal expert on white collar crimes, said – “Indian authorities understand that the only way they are likely to receive cooperation from their foreign counterparts, is being proactive themselves to enforcement and information requests. With the Internet fraud too has become globalised - one such example being the call centre’s in Mumbai/Ahmedabad that were defrauding US companies and authorities by impersonation. It is a step in the right direction for Indian authorities to investigate the use of Indian soil for misdeeds outside the country.”
During the three-day conference, attended by over 600 officers from all the states and union territories, the agencies and senior government representatives also discussed the increasing role of informal channel like direct cooperation between police and agencies of various countries in gathering information; and the role of Interpol.