A scam in the magnitude of approximately Rs 1,400 crore left 1,200 victims in its wake.
In brief
The scam, perpetrated by a Chinese national, took place over merely 9 days.
This individual was partnered by co-conspirators based in Gujarat who developed a fraudulent football betting app.
The ringleader, Woo Uyanbe—who hails from China’s Shenzhen region—was found to be operating the scam out of Patan and Banaskantha.
He spent time in India in both regions between 2020 and 2022, formed local connections and lured people with the promise of wealth.
Authorities on trail
The CID first caught a whiff of the crime when it got to know of victims both in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh who were using the ‘Dani Data’ app.
The Agra Police was the first to take action, having launched an inquiry that led to CID discovering the fraudulent scheme.
“During our investigation, we learned that the Chinese national was in India between 2020 and 2022. He spent time in Patan and Banaskantha, where he met numerous locals and lured them with promises of wealth. He and his accomplices in Gujarat then launched the app in May 2022. It invited bets and promised substantial returns,” the investigating officer was quoted as saying.
Crores swindled over mere days
Of particular note was the frequency of the occurrence of the scam.
On a daily basis the accused stole an average of Rs 200 crore from victims ranging between 17 and 75 years old.
The whole thing lasted only 9 days.
However brief it was, the damage was not inconsequential- they made off with Rs 1,400 crore in total.
However the game had to come to an end, and the app eventually became defunct.
Arrests and FIR
Unfortunately, for the duped it was too late.
“The app was operational for nine days before suddenly becoming non-functional. It was then that people realised their invested money had been siphoned off,” said the police official quoted by The Times of India.
Nevertheless, the authorities kept making progress.
Thus far 9 arrests have been made, those found to have been helping Uyanbe. They had been sending the money to China using hawala networks with the help of shell companies they set up.
An FIR for cheating and violations under IT Act was filed in Patan in August 2022.
Back to China
It appears that Uyanbe has apparently fled to his home country, China.
The state is yet to go ahead with his extradition process.
He is said to be continuing to indulge in similar activities, due to lack of sufficient evidence here in India.
He has expanded his terror to neighboring regions like Hong Kong and Singapore, where he has reportedly launched multiple such apps for fraud.
