Odisha loan App fraud: Lookout notice against Chinese national | Bhubaneswar News

The EOW, probing the charges of cheating and harassment by the Koko loan app operator in Odisha, said 33-year-old Liu Yi masterminded the fraud.

BHUBANESWAR: The bureau of immigration has issued a lookout circular (LOC) against a Chinese national in connection with the Koko loan app fraud case, following a request from the economic offences wing here.
The EOW, probing the charges of cheating and harassment by the Koko loan app operator in Odisha, said 33-year-old Liu Yi masterminded the fraud.
“We have come to know that Yi ran many illegal loan apps in India. Koko, Jojo, Golden Lightening Loan, Silver Credit Loan, Gold Cash Loan, Little Borrow Loan, Tap Credit Loan, Kredit Bear Loan, Speedy Rupee Loan, Xpress Credit Loan and Kredit Plan Loan are some of the dubious apps created by Yi to dupe and harass people,” EOW’s deputy inspector general J N Pankaj said.
The probe agency said Yi, along with two other Chinese citizens, started his illegal business in Bangalore in 2019. His parent company was Jianbing Technology in Hangzhou, China. He is also the director of several other sham firms.
The illegal loan apps have been providing short-term loans to people instantly. They send bulk messages to people and insist on downloading their apps for instant loans without any verification. After downloading the apps, the users are compulsorily asked to allow the apps to allow access to their contact lists. The users are then asked to fill up a KYC form, including the account number to receive the loan amount.
Within minutes, the loan money is credited to the accounts of the applicants. The company then starts torturing the applicants. Their agents force the loanees to repay thrice the loan amount within a few days. “When the loanees ignore their calls and messages, the apps hack their contact lists and send abusive and vulgar messages to their acquaintances,” Pankaj said, adding, many such victims have committed suicide in some states.
The EOW recently wrote to Google, seeking the removal of at least 45 such fraud loan apps from its Play Store. The agency has so far arrested five persons — Mohammad Javed Saifi (from Ghaziabad), Tarun Dudeja (Gurgaon), Ram Shriram Pathade (Mumbai), Rakshith and Sushanth (both from Karnataka) in connection with the Koko loan app fraud.