U.S.-India cooperation disrupts transnational economic crime

New Delhi | April 04, 2011

On March 28, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) coordinated the arrest of Gurdev Singh Dhoany, age 50, at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Dhoany had been a fugitive from justice since 2003, and is accused of conducting ATM thefts valued at nearly two crore rupees.

Following the arrest, U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer remarked: "All Indians and Americans alike - from police officers to the average citizen - benefit when our law enforcement officials work together to bring to justice criminals who target innocent Indians and Americans. This arrest is another example of the U.S. and India's commitment to cooperation in fighting transnational crime, on issues ranging from terrorism and narcotics to the criminals who target average citizens going about their daily lives. Transnational criminals and their organizations know no borders, and we look forward to future successes that will come from the growing law enforcement relationship between our two great democracies."

Dhoany (an Indian citizen) and other accomplices allegedly participated in an ATM-skimming operation in the United States, and also allegedly conducted similar fraudulent transactions in Scotland, England, and Canada. The charges against him allege that he compromised at least 277 bank cards and fraudulently withdrew $430,000, or Rs. 19,141,450, from the accounts of unsuspecting victims.

One of Dhoany's accomplices, Jagdish Singh, was arrested in 2003 and was later convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in the United States. A 2003 court ordered warrant was served on an Arizona motel room occupied by both Dhoany and Singh, resulting in the recovery of $77,000 U.S. dollars.