Mastermind of Chinese shell firms operating in India arrested

The serious fraud investigation office (SFIO) of the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), in a crackdown on Chinese shell companies operating in India, has arrested the mastermind and chief plotter of the racket that has incorporated many China-linked shell companies in India.

The arrest was made after searches and seizure operations conducted by the ministry on September 8, 2022, on the offices of Jillian Consultants India Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jilian Hong Kong Ltd., at Gurugram, Fininty Pvt Ltd at Bangalore, and Husys Consulting Ltd, an erstwhile listed company at Hyderabad.

“Dortse is on the Board of Jillian India Ltd and has clearly 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,” says an MCA statement.

The ministry, under whose aegis SFIO operates, had assigned the investigation of Jilian Consultants and 32 other companies to SFIO on September 9, 2022. Dortse and one Chinese national are the two directors of Jilian Consultants India Private Limited.

Based on inputs and the investigations carried out, it was found that Dortse had fled from Delhi-NCR to a remote place in the state of Bihar and was attempting to escape India through the road route.

A special team was constituted in SFIO, which was deputed to the said remote place. On September 10, 2022, SFIO arrested Dortse, who was later produced in the jurisdictional court and orders for his transit remand were obtained.

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, the ministry adds.

The ministry says the evidence procured during the enquiry by the registrar of companies (ROC) Delhi and the simultaneous search operations clearly points 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,” it adds.

Husys Ltd. was also acting on behalf of Jilian India Ltd. “Initial observations reveal that Husys Ltd. had a pact with Jilian Hong Kong Ltd. Investigations so far have revealed the possible involvement of these shell companies in serious financial crimes detrimental to the country's financial security,” it adds.