India’s Enforcement Directorate has seized cryptocurrency worth $286 million under anti-money laundering laws.
Summary
- ED seizes $286M in crypto under anti-money laundering probe into OctaFX.
- Pavel Prozorov, the OctaFX mastermind, was arrested in Spain for cybercrimes.
- OctaFX duped Indian investors of $225M through global Ponzi network.
They also announced the arrest of Pavel Prozorov, the alleged mastermind behind the multi-billion-dollar OctaFX Ponzi scheme.
Spanish authorities arrested Prozorov based on his involvement in cybercrimes affecting multiple countries, according to an ED statement.
The provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act attaches the cryptocurrency holdings as part of an ongoing investigation into the unauthorized forex trading platform OctaFX.
The platform allegedly duped Indian investors of $225 million between July 2022 and April 2023.
They also reportedly generated profits of approximately $96 million through a multi-country operation that operated from 2019 to 2024.
Distributed global network evaded regulatory scrutiny
The ED probe found that OctaFX operated through a distributed global network designed to evade regulatory oversight and layer illicit funds across multiple jurisdictions.
Marketing activities were managed by entities in the British Virgin Islands, with Spanish-based entities and individuals hosting servers and back-office operations.
Estonian entities handled payment gateways, Georgian operations provided technical support, and a Cyprus-based company served as the holding entity for Indian operations.
Dubai-based entities oversaw Indian activities through Russian promoters, while Singapore entities facilitated the export of bogus services to launder funds abroad.
OctaFX presented itself as an online forex trading platform for curren
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Author: Vignesh Karunanidhi
