SFIO arrests ‘mastermind’ who set up shell companies linked to China

This follows simultaneous search-and-seizure operations conducted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on September 8 in the offices of Jillian Consultants India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jilian Hong Kong Ltd at Gurgaon, as well as Fininty Pvt Ltd at Bangalore and Husys Consulting Ltd at Hyderabad.

“Dortse is on the Board of Jillian India Ltd and has emerged as the mastermind of the whole racket of incorporating a large number of shell companies with Chinese links in India and providing dummy directors on their boards. The arrested person Dortse had shown himself to be a resident of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh as per the records filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC),” according to a statement by the ministry.

As per the MCA, evidence procured during the enquiry by RoC Delhi and the simultaneous search operations pointed to dummy directors being paid by Jilian India Ltd to act as dummies in several shell companies.

“Boxes filled with company seals and digital signatures of dummy directors have been recovered from the site. The Indian employees were in touch with their Chinese counterparts through a Chinese instant messaging app. Husys Ltd was also found to be acting on behalf of Jillian India Ltd,” it added.

Initial observations reveal that Husys had a pact with Jilian Hong Kong. Investigations so far have revealed the possible involvement of these shell companies in serious financial crimes detrimental to the financial security of the country.

SFIO was assigned by the government to investigate Jillian Consultants India Pvt Ltd and 32 other companies to SFIO on September 9, 2022.

Dortse and one Chinese national are the two directors of Jilian Consultants India Pvt Ltd. Based on inputs and the investigations carried out, it was gathered that Dortse had fled from Delhi-NCR to a remote place in Bihar and was attempting to escape the country through the road route. The SFIO arrested Dortse on September 10.  FE