Wanted for fraud, Indian national Angad Chandhok deported from US to India

New Delhi: Alleged fraudster Angad Singh Chandhok, who had an Interpol Red Notice against him, was deported from the US on Saturday in an operation "closely coordinated" by the CBI, officials said. He was brought to the Indira Gandhi International Airport where the CBI detained him and later put him under arrest, they said. He was produced before a special court which sent him to judicial custody. Chandhok, who was wanted in a case of allegedly cheating Union Bank of India in 2014, had managed to escape to the US in 2016 with his family members to escape from the legal proceedings. "The subject along with his family members: father Surendra Singh, mother Harleen Kaur and brother Harsahib Singh in criminal conspiracy with four other accused including bank officials had cheated the Union Bank of India causing wrongful loss to the bank," the CBI said in a statement.

They were declared proclaimed offenders and open-ended arrest warrants were issued against them by the court, it said. In 2017, the CBI got the Interpol Red Notice against him which alerts all the member countries to locate and detain the wanted person. "Efforts are continuing for return of family members of the subject, who are other wanted accused in this case. The return of the subject, main co-conspirator in the fraud, will help in starting the trial," the agency said. While in California, US, with his asylum application pending, Chandhok got involved with a gang of tech scam perpetrators who were cheating American citizens including senior citizens of their savings. He had routed proceeds of crime to India through money laundering channels. He operated a "long-running and complex money laundering network, in which he created and used shell companies to move millions of dollars stolen from Americans through an online tech support scheme, and later an online travel fee scheme", US Department of Justice had said in 2022. Chandhok was sentenced in 2022 to six years imprisonment by a Rhode Island court on money laundering charges. The justice department said Chandhok, who had at least five others (mostly Indian students in the US) working at his direction, was in direct contact with high-ranking international members of the scheme.

Chandhok had pleaded guilty in the case. "According to information presented to the court, Chandhok's criminal activity spanned two years, during which time he 'cleaned' at least than 1.5 million dollars. The government's evidence showed that in just one month he laundered nearly USD 930,000," the justice department said. The CBI as the national central bureau for Interpol in India coordinates closely with all law enforcement agencies in the world for cooperation and assistance via Interpol channels. "Since, 2021, over 100 wanted criminals have been returned to India through coordination via Interpol channel," CBI's spokesperson said.