Pawan Ruia
KOLKATA: Kolkata-based industrialist Pawan Ruia, once known as the “turnaround tycoon” who would buy sick companies in a bid to make them profitable, has been named along with his kin in a cyber fraud case involving 148 shell companies that were allegedly used to park Rs 317 crore in illegal proceeds of online crime. Bengal police’s cybercrime wing said Monday they raided Ruia’s residence and offices last Thursday after naming him, members of his immediate family and some associates in an FIR originating from an investigation into an individual complaint that led sleuths to the heart of a countrywide racket. “A meticulous investigation unveiled the direct involvement of a large cyberfraud racket. Evidence reveals that over 1,379 complainants across West Bengal and other parts of India were cheated of approximately Rs 317 crore,” police said. “These funds were routed through numerous bank accounts of 148 shell companies, many of which shared the same registered address, and were subsequently siphoned off to various mule accounts.” The fraudsters converted a significant portion – preliminary findings suggested Rs 170 crore – of the cheated money into cryptocurrency to evade detection and freezing by law-enforcement agencies. Police filed a suo motu FIR at Barrackpore Cyber Crime Police Station on Nov 5. The FIR mentions that the shell companies linked to Ruia have 11 directors who are also part of the boards of 186 companies across India. The next day, teams from the cybercrime wing raided Ruia Centre at 46 Syed Amir Ali Avenue, Park Circus, Dunlop Industrial Products Pvt Ltd, 129 Park Street, Berger House under Park Street police station, and Ruia’s residence in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge. Pawan Ruia is still to respond to TOI’s attempts to reach out to him for comment.
