Power Bank app fraud: Karnataka HC quashes petition by Chinese nationals

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has rejected the petition filed by two Chinese women, Hu Xiaolin and Dong Xiaoning, in the Power Bank application fraud case.

The petitioners challenged the proceedings related to the FIR registered by the Tumakuru CEN police.

The complaint, filed by TH Manjunatha of Pavagada taluk, accused the Power Bank app, owned by Claravida Finserv Private Limited in Haryana state, of fraud.

Manjunatha claimed to have invested Rs 15,000 based on the app's promise of an Rs 18 return for every hour of investment. The complainant and other persons in the chain had invested Rs 12,96,410.

On May 10, 2021, the complainant discovered that the Power Bank promoters had deleted the app from Google Play Store, defrauding investors.

Police investigation confirmed the petitioners’ involvement in the crime, prompting them to seek a body warrant. They were arraigned as accused number 19 and 20. 

The petitioners argued that they are already arraigned as accused in another crime and questioned the grounds for the investigation officer to seek a body warrant in a case against unknown persons.

Prosecutor BA Belliappa argued that the other case involved allegations by the payment gateway aggregator Razorpay Software Private Limited that facilitated the exchange of electronic payments.

He further submitted that Razorpay Software Private Limited accused 10 merchants availing their payment gateway services — authorised to operate their businesses in specific categories — of later routing businesses by transacting through the Power Bank app.

Justice R Nataraj noted that the allegations contained in the complaint filed by Razorpay Software Private Limited and the complaint filed by Manjunatha are entirely different and cannot be treated as further information.

“The contention urged by the petitioners that they are innocent of the accusations made in the complaint, which they have challenged, cannot be considered at this stage as the investigation is underway. It is for the petitioners to establish that they were not concerned with "Power Bank" or if concerned, to explain under what circumstances the "Power Bank" app was deleted from the Google Play Store and that they did not receive any money invested by the individual investors,” the court said.