Call centre scam: Thakkar bought properties worth Rs 5 crore

Mumbai: The Thane police has unearthed properties worth around Rs 5 crore that belong to Sagar ‘Shaggy’ Thakkar, the alleged mastermind in the illegal call centre scam case, which it is in the process of attaching.

The Thane police said that Thakkar allegedly bought commercial spaces in Ahmedabad and Mumbai by diverting Rs 5 crore of the scam money.

Most of these properties are commercial cum office spaces and the police is questioning Thakkar — who was arrested at the Mumbai international airport, based on a lookout notice after he arrived from Dubai — to ascertain why he had bought them.

Officials suspect that he had planned to diversify his business and hence invested the money in buying them. “We are now in the process of attaching the properties that have been found and are looking for more such immovable assets that might have been bought from money made by duping people,” said Parambir Singh, commissioner of the Thane city police.

The investigators have found at least seven bank accounts from which the money was transferred to buy these properties. The details of the transactions are also under the scanner of the police, who added that two these accounts are in Thakkar’s name.

The police has frozen these accounts, however, they have not revealed the exact amount of money found in these bank accounts. The police is also probing if the money, which was made by duping nationals of the United States of America, was laundered outside India for similar purposes.

After police officers cracked open the scam on October 4, 2016 and arrested Thakkar, they learnt that he had also acquired a three-year-long residential visa in August 2016 for staying in Dubai to kick-start his plans of starting an IT business and settle down there.

While getting the residential visa, Thakkar had also registered a company in the name of Phoenix IT Ltd there, the officials added. He applied for the residential visa in June 2016, which paved the way for his stay in the United Arab Emirates till August 2019.

Diverting funds

Thane police said that Sagar Thakkar bought commercial spaces in Ahmedabad and Mumbai by diverting Rs 5 crore of the scam money. The money was transferred from seven of his bank accounts and the police has got the details of these transactions. Five of these accounts are in the company’s name.