The financial scandal that originally appeared to involve Rs 155 crore has now ballooned into a Rs 800 crore scam, as ongoing investigations by the Crime Branch expose deeper layers of fraudulent transactions facilitated through a massive network of fake firms, online gaming, betting and stolen identities. The escalation in the estimated value of the scam comes after forensic audits and financial tracking led the police to identify over 86 bogus companies. The case initially surfaced with the discovery of dubious transactions totaling Rs 155 crore linked to two shell companies - Kshitij Enterprises and Awadh Enterprises. However, as investigators delved deeper, they discovered a far more elaborate operation. “It is now clear that this was not just a Rs155 crore case.

 

With 86 fake firms traced so far and extensive banking activity unearthed, the value of the fraudulent transactions has crossed Rs 800 crore,” a senior police official revealed. Kshitij Enterprises alone is linked to 113 fake firms while Awadh Enterprises manages finances for 57 entities, all of which have been described as fronts for laundering money, often through hawala networks and on-line gambling platforms. Some of the major bogus firms used in the scam include Vivika Enterprises, Kabir Steel Traders, Sakshi Food Suppliers and Sharda Traders. Whopping Rs 175 crore was routed through just 13 of these entities which indicated how vast the overall fraud might be. Along with prime accused Santosh alias Bunty Rampal Shahu, Jayesh Rampal Shahu (36) of Kapil Heights, Imambada; Brijkishore Ramvilas Maniyar (59) of Shankar Nagar; Rishi Hitesh Lakhani (21) of Shastri Nagar; Anand Vinod Harde (33) of Surya Nagar, Kalamna, have been arrested by the police so far.