Maha police arrests over 500 BPO staffers for defrauding Americans

Mumbai: At least 500 staffers of three Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organisations were arrested for allegedly defrauding United States (US) citizens on Tuesday night in Thane district of Maharashtra.

The entire workforce, including top employees, was detained during raids conducted by some 200 policemen. Subsequently, they were interrogated all night. “We have apprehended around 500-600 call centre employees. They were all involved in an international racket,” said a senior Maharashtra police official.

The employees were allegedly pretending to be tax investigators in telephonic conversations and blackmailing the Americans over tax irregularities. According to the police, one of the company owners based in US had stolen data and passed it on to his associates in India.

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Other highlights:

• The staffers are still under the police custody.
• The police reacted after receiving a tip-off.
• A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged in this connection.
• An investigation was under way.