Hyderabad: The ministry of corporate affairs has directed Registrar of Companies to scrutinise multiple companies with Chinese directors or investments allegedly operating in the same address.
Recent investigations have revealed that multiple Chinese companies are allegedly operating from the same addresses, with many of them being shell companies involved in money laundering through betting apps and dating apps.
Sources within the MCA revealed that orders have been issued to ROCs nationwide, including Hyderabad and Vijayawada, to monitor the modus operandi of establishing multiple firms at a single address. The ROC has already established separate Chinese cells to investigate shell companies with Chinese nationals as directors and investors, particularly those involved in online betting, loan, and dating apps, as well as gambling apps, which have allegedly amassed thousands of crores of rupees.
In Hyderabad, 18 companies have been identified, and FIRs have been lodged against them in various police stations. An ROC official said, “When we visited these addresses with multiple companies, most of them were physically not present and the addresses appear to be residential houses.”
In Vijayawada, four companies and in Bengaluru, approximately 184 companies, were listed. Delhi and Gurugram are also hotspots where a significant number of companies involving Chinese nationals have been identified, ROC officials said.
MCA is also cracking down on auditors and company secretaries involved in establishing these firms in violation of the Companies Act.
“Although there is no legal limit on the number of companies at a single address, if there is no genuine business activity for each company individually and they merely exist on paper, we can take action. There is always suspicion of fraud and money laundering with these shell firms,” affirmed an official.
