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A British Asian gang of fraudsters may have been involved in misusing billions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money to fund terrorist networks in Pakistan and Afgha-nistan, claims a UK media probe based on police and intelligence files.
The gang, based in London, Bucking-hamshire, Birmingham, north-west England and Scotland, is alleged to have sent 1 per cent of its gains from their elaborate tax fraud to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghan-istan, where it funded madrasas, training camps and other terrorist activities, according to the leaked files seen by The Sunday Times.
An estimated £80 million is believed to have been funnelled out by the fraudsters as part of an elaborate VAT and benefits fraud against the UK’s revenue department over the past two decades, with further gains made through mortgage and credit card fraud targeting banks and individuals.
Secret intelligence held by MI5 states that some of the money reached the Pakistani compound that housed the Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden before US forces stormed it in 2011, the newspaper reports as part of a two-year investigation.
The gang, made up of British men of Asian-origin who cannot be named due to court orders, reportedly infiltrated multiple UK government agencies and even corrupted local politicians.
Mid-ranking gang members have been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for fraud and money laundering in a series of linked trials.
Their crimes have reportedly cost the UK taxpayer an estimated 100 million pounds.
Reporting restrictions imposed at the start of the first trial prevent the identification of any of the gang because several kingpins fled the UK before they could be arrested and are now thought to be based in the Middle East.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insists that details cannot be reported until the masterminds have been returned to the UK to face trial.
According to evidence pieced together so far, the gang was using a network of factories and companies and exploiting their workers for identity and benefit frauds, the sale of counterfeit goods, car crash scams and mortgage and credit card frauds.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs inquiries found the gang used hijacked National Insurance numbers to create false records and exploited illegal immigrant labour before laundering cash through bogus offshore firms.
Those involved in the investigation say the gang was extremely difficult to penetrate.
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BJP president Amit Shah Monday lashed out at the Congress, accusing the grand old party of trying to “defame” Hindus by giving them a terror tag.
“Rahul (Gandhi) Baba’s party attempted to link Hindu community with terrorism. It was a bid to defame Hindus across the world,” Shah said, addressing a rally in Paralakhemundi under the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase on April 11.
Hitting out at the Congress, the BJP chief said thousands, including Swami Aseemanandji, were recently acquitted in the Samjhauta Express blast case. “Unfortunately, the then Congress government compromised with national security by allowing the real culprits in the case to go scot-free.
These people have no concern for national security,” Shah said. He called upon people to oust the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha to ensure a corruption-free administration. Shah alleged that corruption is rampant under the BJD rule in the state, which needs a “young chief minister” for speedy development. “The BJD govt adopted a step-motherly approach towards west and central Odisha, for which these parts remained backward.
People of the state need to overthrow the current dispensation and ensure a second term for Narendra Modi as PM,” he said. Shah also accused Chief Minister Patnaik of failing to learn Odia in 19 years. “People must choose an Odia-speaking CM this time,” he said. The assembly and the Lok Sabha polls in the state will be held simultaneously in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29. The BJP has set a target of winning at least 120 of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said his government had not increased taxes in the last five years, but that has not slackened the pace of development.
Lauding “honest” taxpayers, he said the implementation of various welfare projects was possible because of them and listed out the various projects in Andhra Pradesh.
In the state for the second time since Saturday, he repeated his ‘u-turn Babu’ taunt againt Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and accused the TDP supremo of indulging in corruption in the Polavaram project.
“In five years, there have been no new taxes. Not just that, we have been lowering them. But the pace of development has been fast,” he said addressing a public rally here. However, the previous governments had complained of shortage of funds to implement projects, he said. “(They) said there is no money even to buy Rafale (aircraft),” he said in an apparent reference to former Defence Minister A K Antony’s remarks in this connection. Antony, as Defence Minister in 2014, had said the government had no money to buy 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft when it was negotiating for the purchase of the French-made aeroplane.
Stepping up his attack on Naidu, Modi alleged that the TDP wanted to delay the Polavaram irrigation project.
His government had accorded priority to it and had therefore approved it in the first cabinet meeting after coming to power in 2014, he said, adding that the Centre has so far released Rs 7,000 crore to the state. “On the one hand, they are not spending it rightly and on the other, are delaying it,” he said.
The project was a question of “life and death” for farmers and its implementation would also meet drinking water requirements. “For u-turn babu, Polavaram project is an ATM–take (money) from it and do corruption. Whom does he want to benefit, you know,” he said.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted NCP chief Sharad Pawar, saying there was infighting in his party, which was slipping from his control. Launching the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance’s poll campaign in Maharashtra at a public rally here, Modi said Pawar decided not to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls after realising that the situation was not in his favour. “Pawar decided against contesting the polls sensing unfavourable situation. There is infighting in the NCP, the party is slipping from Pawar’s grip,” he said.
Modi said the Congress coined the term ‘Hindu terror’. “Leaders of that party are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by majority (Hindu) population,” Modi said. His barb was apparently directed at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad constituency in Kerala, besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. “Congress used the term ‘Hindu terror’…it labelled the peace-loving Hindus as terrorists…is there a single incident of Hindu terrorism?” Modi said. “Congress insulted Hindus…people have decided to punish it in election…hence, it is scared of fielding candidate from constituencies dominated by majority population,” Modi added.
Blasting the opposition parties over their criticism of the NDA government after the air strike on terror camps in Pakistan following the Pulwama attack, he asked people if they wanted India’s heroes or those who became heroes in the neighbouring country. He also accused the Congress of labelling the “peace-loving” Hindu society as terrorists. Modi said the Congress was scared of fielding candidates in the seats dominated by majority population. Hitting out at the Congress over the ‘chowkidar of toilets’ remark, Modi said, “Your abuse is an ornament for me.”
He accused the Congress and NCP of questioning the valour of soldiers and insulting them after the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot air strike. These parties spoke language that was suitable to be used in Pakistan, he added. Modi also hit out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who he said, chose not to contest the Lok Sabha election after deciding to do so first.
This was because the NCP chief sensed an unfavourable situation, Modi said, taunting the latter for “shying away” from poll fight. Modi also claimed there was a family feud in the Pawar family and that Pawar was losing his grip on the party. Modi also termed the Congress’ “abuse” that he was a “chowkidar of toilets” as an “ornament” for him. He congratulated ISRO scientists on the successful launch of EMISAT satellite on board polar rocket PSLV-C45 from Sriharikota.
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Facebook Inc said on Monday it was removing 687 pages and accounts linked to India’s main opposition Congress party, just days before voting begins in a general election, because of “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the social media platform.
The announcement marks a rare action from Facebook against a prominent political party in a country where it has more than 300 million users, the highest in the world.
Facebook said its investigation found that individuals used fake accounts and joined various groups to disseminate their content and increase engagement. Their posts included local news and criticism of political opponents such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Facebook said.
“While the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found that it was connected to individuals associated with an INC (Indian National Congress) IT Cell,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, said in a statement.
Gleicher added that Facebook was removing accounts based on their behaviour, not the content they posted.
India’s staggered election, scheduled to begin on April 11, will end on May 19.
Two of the samples shared by Facebook were of posts that criticized Modi’s initiatives and called for supporting the Congress party and its president, Rahul Gandhi.
The social media giant also said it was removing 103 pages, groups and accounts, also for inauthentic behaviour, as part of a network which originated in Pakistan and was linked to employees of the Inter-Service Public Relations department of the Pakistani military.
Facebook has faced increasing pressure from authorities around the world, including the Indian government, to ensure its platform is not abused for political gains or to spread misinformation, especially ahead of elections.
Facebook has toughened up its rules governing political advertisements in India and many other countries to increase transparency.
Last week, Facebook removed a social media network in the Philippines and took the unusual step of linking it to a businessman who said he had managed the president’s online election campaign in 2016. It has taken similar actions recently against accounts in Russia and Iran.
Separately, Facebook said it had also removed another 227 pages and 94 accounts in India for violating its policies against spam and misrepresentation.
