The SFIO said it had arrested a man named Dortse — who was on the board of Jillian India Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jillian Hong Kong Ltd — and raided multiple places to unearth the scam.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has detained a man who had masterminded the incorporation of numerous shell companies with ties to China and placed dummy directors on their boards to run the fraudulent businesses. The arrest was a part of a crackdown on Chinese shell businesses suspected of committing severe financial crimes in India.
The SFIO said that they raided numerous locations to find the scam and detained a man named Dortse-who served on the board of Jillian India Ltd-a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jillian Hong Kong Ltd.
“After concurrently seizure and search operations carried out by The Ministry of Corporate Affairs on September 8 2022 on the offices of Jillian Consultants India Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jilian Hong Kong Ltd., at Gurgaon, Fininty Pvt Ltd at Bangalore and Husys Consulting Ltd, an erstwhile listed company at Hyderabad; the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has arrested Mr. Dortse,” the Ministry of Corporate Affairs explained on Sunday.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) conducted simultaneous search-and-seizure operations on September 8 in the offices of Jillian Consultants India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jilian Hong Kong Ltd in Gurgaon, Fininty Pvt Ltd in Bangalore, and Husys Consulting Ltd in Hyderabad.
“Dortse is on the board of Jillian India Ltd and has surfaced as the mastermind behind the entire scheme of incorporating a various number of shell companies with Chinese links in India and placing dummy directors on their boards. According to records filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the arrested person Dortse showed himself to be a resident of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh,” said the ministry in the statement.
Based on the information provided by the MCA, evidence collected during the inquiry by RoC Delhi, and the subsequent search operations linked to Jilian India Ltd paying dummy directors to act as dummies in multiple shell companies.
“Boxes filled with company seals and digital signatures of dummy directors have been seized from the site. The Indian staff was in touch with their Chinese counterparts through a Chinese instant messaging app. Husys Ltd was also discovered to be acting on behalf of Jillian India Ltd,” the statement continued.
According to the first inspections, Husys had a deal with Jilian Hong Kong. So far, investigations have indicated that these shell corporations may have been involved in severe financial crimes that threaten the country’s financial stability.
On September 9, 2022, the government assigned SFIO to examine Jillian Consultants India Pvt Ltd and 32 other companies. Dortse and one Chinese national are the two who directed Jilian Consultants India Pvt Ltd. Based on information and the results of the investigations, it was determined that Dortse had escaped from Delhi-NCR to a remote location somewhere in Bihar and was attempting to leave the country by road. Dortse was apprehended by the SFIO on September 10.
“Dortse and one Chinese national are the two directors of Jilian Consultants India Private Limited. Based on information and the investigations carried out, it was revealed that Dortse had escaped from Delhi NCR to a remote place in the state of Bihar and was then trying to escape India through the road route.”
“Immediately, a special team was assembled in SFIO and dispatched to the remote place. In the evening of 10th September 2022, SFIO had arrested Dortse, who was later released in the jurisdictional court, and orders for his transit remand were obtained,” the statement concluded.
