CBI nabs Indian fugitive after US deportation
An Indian fugitive accused of fraud and spoofing was deported from the US and arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on arrival on Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.
Harnek Singh had been missing for years. He faced accusations of cyber fraud against Indian nationals living and working in Singapore. He had been avoiding investigation and trial since 2013.
The CBI issued a Red Notice and a Look-Out Circular for Singh, and he was required to appear before the Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI Cases) in Panchkula, Haryana, as soon as possible.
The CBI filed the case in Delhi in 2016, charging him with criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using forged documents and offences under the Information Technology Act.
The investigation found that in 2013, fraudsters in India made fake phone calls to Indian citizens in Singapore. They pretended to be officials from Singapore immigration department. They tricked the victims into believing there were mistakes in their airport disembarkation forms, which could lead to criminal charges or deportation, and into paying supposed settlement fees or fines. They sent the money via Western Union Money Transfer to predetermined recipients in India. The stolen funds were received through a money-transfer business run by Harnek Singh in association with the co-accused Aditya Bhardwaj and Deepak Jain. Singh left India in May 2013 and then entered the US illegally, where he had been living as a fugitive for over ten years.
During the time that Singh was outside the jurisdiction of the Indian courts, the trial concerning Aditya Bhardwaj from Gurugram continued in Panchkula. The court found both guilty and sentenced them to two and a half years in prison, along with fines.
Earlier, the court had separated Singh’s case because he was missing. The evidence included digital records, financial transaction trails, forensic analysis of forged Western Union forms, and testimony from many witnesses. Counterfeit identification documents had been used to withdraw the funds. As regards international pursuit and legal action, although a summons and a bailable warrant were served on Singh in the US by the US Department of Justice, he did not turn up before the trial court.
As a result, the Special Judicial Magistrate of the CBI in Panchkula issued an open-ended arrest warrant. The CBI then used the Interpol system, which led to a Red Notice. They also started a Look-Out Circular for his passport. With help from foreign authorities, this eventually led to his deportation from the US.
