On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out search operations at multiple sites in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata in relation to an ongoing case involving illicit foreign exchange trading using the OctaFx trading app and OctaFx.com.
Based on a first information report (FIR) filed at the Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune, the Enforcement Department (ED) began a money laundering investigation into the scheme. A formal complaint was filed against a number of individuals for their claimed roles in enticing customers with large returns and tricking them into believing they could trade forex using the OctaFx trading platform.
According to the ED, on Saturday, numerous incriminating documents and digital devices were found during the searches, which also resulted in the freezing of bank funds totaling Rs 2.7 crore.
In collaboration with M/s OctaFx India Private Limited, an Indian company, the OctaFx online trading app and website are operational in India.
The ED claims that the RBI has not given the app or website permission to deal in currency trading. The trading platform uses incentive structures based on referrals to attract users to their platforms, and it is heavily advertised on social networking sites.
Up to now, the anti-money laundering agency has attached assets worth Rs 35 crore, including gold coins, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency.
A network of chartered accountants and professionals that provided fictitious remittance certificates and enabled bank accounts and organizations to be used for the layering of such monies was also made public by the ED’s investigation.
The owner of OctaFx group entities, which are based in Spain, Russia, Georgia, and Dubai, has also been revealed to be in charge of managing the funds collected in these accounts, reflecting account numbers of dummy entities, and diversion of the same, according to the central agency.
The ED has said that OctaFx India Pvt Ltd, M/s OctaFx, and their entities have cheated investors in the guise of forex trading and earned a profit of more than Rs 500 crore from the Indian region