<p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday it recently raided a Kolkata-based company that allegedly ran an unauthorised call centre and the sister companies of which were penalised in the UK for 'slamming', an illegal act of switching a consumer's telephone service provider without his consent.</p>.<p>The searches were carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on August 31 at 11 premises of Kunal Gupta, the owner and director of Met Technologies Private Limited.</p>.<p>The ED probe found that the representatives of the company targeted gullible residents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia through "bogus" technology support offers, "deceptive" website sales and "sham" loan offers via counterfeit mobile apps, "coercing" the victims into making substantial payments, the agency said in a statement.</p>.<p>Gupta, it said, had established companies in the UK, the US and Australia.</p>.<p>"It is also gathered that two of his UK-based companies have been levied huge penalties by Ofcom, the telecom regulator of the UK, for slamming, which is the illegal practice of switching a consumer's telephone service provider without consent," the ED said.</p>.<p>The "laundered" money was funnelled into the hospitality sector -- hotels, clubs and cafes -- and this was a ploy to legitimise illicit funds, the agency added.</p>.<p>The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Bidhannagar Police, which unearthed an illegal call centre being run by the company at Saltlake in Kolkata by engaging in "fraudulent" activities both domestically and internationally. The call centre was sealed by the police, the ED said.</p>.<p>A significant number of property deeds of suspected persons both within and outside India as well as electronic devices and other documents of "incriminating nature" were seized, it said, adding that money was laundered through "high-value illicit cash transactions".</p>
<p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday it recently raided a Kolkata-based company that allegedly ran an unauthorised call centre and the sister companies of which were penalised in the UK for 'slamming', an illegal act of switching a consumer's telephone service provider without his consent.</p>.<p>The searches were carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on August 31 at 11 premises of Kunal Gupta, the owner and director of Met Technologies Private Limited.</p>.<p>The ED probe found that the representatives of the company targeted gullible residents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia through "bogus" technology support offers, "deceptive" website sales and "sham" loan offers via counterfeit mobile apps, "coercing" the victims into making substantial payments, the agency said in a statement.</p>.<p>Gupta, it said, had established companies in the UK, the US and Australia.</p>.<p>"It is also gathered that two of his UK-based companies have been levied huge penalties by Ofcom, the telecom regulator of the UK, for slamming, which is the illegal practice of switching a consumer's telephone service provider without consent," the ED said.</p>.<p>The "laundered" money was funnelled into the hospitality sector -- hotels, clubs and cafes -- and this was a ploy to legitimise illicit funds, the agency added.</p>.<p>The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Bidhannagar Police, which unearthed an illegal call centre being run by the company at Saltlake in Kolkata by engaging in "fraudulent" activities both domestically and internationally. The call centre was sealed by the police, the ED said.</p>.<p>A significant number of property deeds of suspected persons both within and outside India as well as electronic devices and other documents of "incriminating nature" were seized, it said, adding that money was laundered through "high-value illicit cash transactions".</p>