Searches at offices of Paytm and PayU The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at certain premises of payment aggregators Paytm and PayU.

The ED’s move comes less than a week after it decided to search Paytm’s Bengaluru premises, including cashless payments, in connection with an investigation into Chinese loan apps by fintech firm Reserve. The Federal Anti-Money Laundering Agency is investigating Chinese company facilitators in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Lucknow and Kolkata, people involved in the development told CNBC TV-18.

Names of certain payment gateway firms have been linked to inquiries conducted by the ED, whose response was awaited by Money Control Payu.

Paytm, in a statement issued on September 3, conducted the ED search at its Bengaluru premises a day earlier. The agency only sought information about merchants that the company provides payment processing solutions. “We would like to clarify that these merchants are separate entities, and not our group entity,” Paytm said. The ED, in a statement during investigations conducted earlier this month, said its investigation revealed that Chinese lending apps conduct business through various merchant IDs or accounts with payment gateways and banks. The total seized amount is 17 crores.

The money has been seized in the merchant IDs and bank accounts of Chinese individuals-controlled companies and further investigations are underway, the case has been registered on the basis of 18 FIRs.

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Harassment of Public Extortion complaints against numerous entities/individuals have been filed with Cybercrime Police Station, Bangalore. The accused were those who took loans of small amounts through the mobile app, the ED said.