IRS scam accused likely to undergo lie detector test

Mumbai: The Thane police may conduct a lie-detector test on key accused, Sagar Thakkar, in the call centre scam, where employees posing as the IRS duped US nationals of millions of dollars.

Thakkar, who was arrested over a month ago after he arrived from Dubai, has allegedly not provided details on a few crucial aspects of the scam including the whereabouts of 20-odd other persons wanted in the probe, including his sister Reema, who is absconding. A lookout circular is pending against her.

According to sources, during interrogation, Thakkar has revealed the names of several other accused in the scam and their role in it, but is quiet on questions regarding the whereabouts of his sister and close aides. By now, the cops have recovered enough evidence against Thakkar and some other members but are still clueless about Reema’s whereabouts. They have also not managed to lay hands on any evidence pointing to her involvement. The cops may conduct a lie detector test on Thakkar.

Recently, the team has managed to nab a key accused in scam, Ashish Choudhary, from Delhi. Choudhary, who had managed to evade arrest for the last seven months, is a close aide of Shaggy. According to the police, he played a key role in redeeming the 16 digit I-tune codes purchased after threat calls made from the call centres, with the help of an associate in China.

On October 4, the Thane crime branch conducted raids at nine call centres in the Mira-Bhayandar area, where employees posing as IRS officials, made calls to US citizens and extorted millions of dollars from them.