OctaFx app Fraud- ED conducts searches in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram and Kolkata
The OctaFx app and website are not authorised by the RBI to engage in forex trading.
New Delhi, July 25
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted search operations at various locations linked to the forex trading platform OctaFx that duped multiple investors worth crores of amount. The OctaFx app and website are not authorised by the RBI to engage in forex trading.
The searches were conducted in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Gurugram under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED initiated the investigation against the platform based on an FIR filed in Pune, which accuses several individuals of cheating investors by projecting false promises of high returns through the OctaFx trading platform.
The probe revealed that the Indian arm of the company and its entities have defrauded investors under the guise of forex trading, thereby earning over Rs 1,000 crore from India. A portion of these funds was layered through a web of complex transactions with the help of shell companies and remitted abroad to related entities under the pretence of bogus freight services, import of services, etc.
The illegally obtained money was also funnelled into SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) to present it as legitimate. It was also found that OctaFx used entities based in the British Virgin Islands and Estonia to transfer funds for its promotional activities to attract investors, probe showed.
These activities were managed by the owner of OctaFx group entities based in Russia, Spain, Georgia, and Dubai, officials added.
The ED has so far frozen assets around Rs 118 crore including assets worth Rs 38 crore in the form of cryptocurrencies, bank balances, and gold coins in connection with the case. The movable properties, including bank funds and Demat account holdings worth approximately Rs 80.43 crore, have been frozen and various documents related to the fraud seized.
