The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said that it has attached assets worth more than Rs 278 crore of various entities, including those with links to China, in a money-laundering probe over the alleged cheating of investors, According to the agency, these entities were cheating investors through mobile phone-based app called “HPZ Token“. The ED had earlier attached properties worth Rs 176.67 crore in the case.
The ED probe is reportedly based on a first information report (FIR) registered in 2021 by the Cyber Crime police station in Nagaland’s capital Kohima alleging that thousands of investors were duped on the false promise of huge returns on investments for mining bitcoins. The “HPZ Token” app was allegedly used for the purpose.
How fraudsters worked
“The modus operandi of the fraudsters was to first lure the victims into investing in the company on the pretext of doubling their investment through the app, HPZ Token. Similarly, investments were also received fraudulently for online gaming and betting,” the agency had said then. “For an investment of Rs 57,000, returns of Rs 4,000 per day for three months were promised but money was paid only once and thereafter, fresh funds were sought,” the ED alleged.
What ED said
“Various bank accounts and merchant IDs were opened by various shell entities having dummy directors/proprietors only for the purpose of rotation/layering of proceeds of crime representing funds fraudulently received for illegal online gaming and betting and investment for Bitcoin mining.
In this case, the ED had earlier conducted searches at 26 locations in 2022 and 18 locations this year. So far, the total proceeds of crime restrained by the ED in the case are said to stand at Rs 455.37 crore.