2,200 crore scam: Key accused stashed money in overseas accounts, say Assam Police

One of the accused in the multi-crore online trading scam, Swapnanil Das, has accounts abroad where he deposited a lot of money collected by duping people in Assam, a police source said on Saturday.

On the condition of anonymity, a senior police officer told IANS, “We have been interrogating the prime accused Swapnanil Das for the last few days in our custody. He might have bank accounts in Malaysia, Dubai and the USA. In the preliminary investigations, we have found information about the accused depositing money abroad. However, the investigation is underway and we are looking to fetch more details by interrogating him.”

Das, who was earlier arrested by the police from his residence in Guwahati three days ago, was leading an extravagant lifestyle. He has luxurious cars in his garage which were seized by the police. The accused was habituated to frequent holidays abroad and his social media accounts have a lot of pictures in Maldives, Dubai and other countries.

Swapnanil Das has a big office in the city for online trading and the posh environment in the office can beat any big corporate house, said a police officer.

According to police, they have got information about the accused having at least two bank accounts in Dubai. The looted money from people was deposited in overseas accounts spreading in more than one country. The police also found Rs 79 lakh in the bank account of Das’ mother.

The investigating officers have been trying to find out how the money was deposited in overseas bank accounts. The police have got custody for another three days of Das. He was initially remanded to police custody for two days by the court.

It may be recalled that another prime accused in the online trading scam -- Bishal Phukan was arrested by the police from Dibrugarh. The police have taken at least 39 persons in custody for their alleged involvement in the Rs 2,200 crore online trading scam that rocked the state.