Jalandhar, July 19 -- The Enforcement Directorate, Jalandhar, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs.7.31 crore situated in Ludhiana and Mohali under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following an investigation into illegal call centres allegedly involved in duping foreign nationals, mainly from the United States. These centres were being operated by accused identified as Ankush Bassi, Piyush Malik, Gurmeet Singh Gandhi and others. ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the Punjab Police in 2022 at Ludhiana under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the IT Act against Ankush Bassi and his accomplices for defrauding foreign nationals by impersonating as customer support representatives. ED investigation revealed that Bassi, Malik and Gandhi were running a call centre purportedly for providing services without having any affiliations and defrauded customers abroad in lieu of providing services and manipulated them into buying gift cards and virtual digital assets. "The assets were later encashed in India by the accused persons through crypto exchanges and layered through multiple bank accounts of these individuals and their family members. The proceeds of crime thus generated through illegal activities were utilised in the purchase of immovable properties," the federal agency said....