The accused threatened the victims with actions for tax fraud and loan default and coerced them into paying money.

Hyderabad: In a significant development in the Hyderabad call centre fraud case involving the defrauding of US citizens of Rs 200 crore, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared information with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, August 19.

According to a Times of India report, FBI officials visited the ED office in Hyderabad to exchange information regarding the case. The FBI obtained money laundering details related to the call centre, where the accused allegedly impersonated officials from US security agencies and contacted US nationals.

The accused allegedly threatened victims with action for tax fraud and loan defaults and coerced them into paying money. The probe stems from an FIR registered by the Madhapur police in 2023, after the US Embassy and Interpol flagged a fraudulent operation targeting Americans through fake technical support and government impersonation calls.

The ED subsequently launched a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and linked the operation to a larger CBI case registered in September 2024 involving centres accused of targeting foreign nationals.

The arrested accused have been identified as Vikas Kumar Nimar alias Misty, whom the ED identified as an operator of the syndicate; his father, Tarachand Nimar, an Army pensioner; and Mohammed Irfan Ansari, whom the agency described as a prime controller of the network.

According to the ED, the accused convinced victims to invest in cryptocurrency, with the proceeds routed back to India through crypto traders, hawala and angadia channels before being layered through multiple bank accounts.According to the agency, Ansari, who was arrested on August 10, admitted to operating the call centre since 2017 and earning USD 60,000 to USD 70,000 per month