ED hold raids in Hyd'bad and other cities in connection with Token app case

Hyderabad: Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has carried out search operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at half a dozen business or residential premises in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Gaya and 16 other premises of banks and payment gateways branches in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bangalore in connection with an investigation related to the app-based token named HPZ and related entities.

The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of FIR dated August 8, 2021 filed under various Sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) by Cyber Crime Police Station, Kohima, Nagaland.

The HPZ token was an app-based token which promised users of large gains against investment by investing in mining machines for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The modus-operandi of the fraudsters was to first lure the victims to invest in the company on the pretext of doubling their investment through the app HPZ token.

Payments were received from users through UPls and other various payment gateways/nodal accounts/individuals. Part-amount was paid back to the investors and remaining amount was diverted to various individual and company accounts through various payment gateways/Banks from where partly it was siphoned off in digital/virtual currencies.

After that, the fraudsters stopped the payments and the website became inaccessible. Investigation revealed that the HPZ token was operated by Lillion Technocab Private Limited and Shigoo Technology Private Limited, according to ED press release.

The release further stated that Shigoo Technology Private Limited was also found linked to various Chinese controlled companies. It was also revealed that various other companies were indulged in receiving funds from public on pretext of operating various apps/websites for gaming/loan/others.

According to press release, the ED suspected involvement of Jillian Consultants India Private Limited, Gurugram behind various companies involved in these frauds.

One such entity, Mad-Elephant Network Technology Private Limited in agreement with X10 Financial Services Limited was operating various loan Apps (Yo- Yo cash, Tufan Rupees, Coco cash etc.). Similarly, Su Hui Technology Private Limited, in agreement with Nimisha Finance India Private Limited had operated Loan Apps.

During the search, various incriminating documents have been recovered seized. Huge balances were found to be maintained in the virtual accounts of the involved entities with payment aggregators. Rs. 33.36 crore was found with Easebuzz Private Limited, Pune, Rs. 8.21 crore with Razorpay Software Private Limited, Bangalore, Rs. 1.28 crore with Cashfree Payments India Private Limited, Bangalore and Rs. 1.11 crore with Paytm Payments Services Limited, New Delhi.

The total amount of around Rs. 46.67 crore was detected and freezed in various bank accounts and virtual accounts. Further investigation is under progress.