Several India-Based Call Centers Indicted by US DoJ

A group of India-based call centers and their directors have been indicted for their alleged role in placing scam calls aimed at defrauding US-based citizens – including impersonating banks, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Social Security Administration.

The superseding indictment charges Manu Chawla and Achivers A Spirit of BPO Solutions Private Limited; Sushil Sachdeva, Nitin Kumar Wadwani, Swarndeep Singh, a.k.a. Sawaran Deep Kohli, and Fintalk Global; Dinesh Manohar Sachdev and Global Enterprises; Gaje Singh Rathore and Shivaay Communication Private Limited; Sanket Modi and SM Technomine Private Limited; and Rajiv Solanki and Technomind Info Solutions of conspiring with VoIP service provider E Sampark and its director, Guarav Gupta, who was previously indicted for sending tens of millions of these scam calls to US victims.

"Scam robocalls cause emotional and financial devastation to victims, particularly our vulnerable and elderly populations," said US Attorney Kurt Erskine in a statement. "These India-based call centers allegedly scared their victims and stole their money, including some victims' entire life savings."

In the loan scams, victims were duped by call-center representatives into paying fees for phony loans; the reps were sometimes able to convince the victims to transfer funds and gift cards to them in more elaborate financial fraud ploys.

The US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is handling the case.