MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its chargesheet in a special court in Mumbai against several accused persons and entities in connection with its money laundering probe against the forex trading platform online OctaFX, accused of defrauding investors via unauthorized transactions by an Indian subsidiary. Entities linked to OctaFx would have made a profit of more than ₹1,000 crore from the country, ED’s investigation revealed.

The agency began its investigation based on a case registered by the Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune against several people for their alleged involvement in trapping and then duping investors on the pretext of getting returns. high through currency trading through the OctaFx trading app and website. ED’s investigation revealed that the Saint Lucia-registered company was operating in India through an India-based entity, OctaFx India Private Limited. The OctaFX app and website were not authorized by the Reserve Bank of India to conduct forex trading, agency sources said. Conducting and trading in Forex (which is not carried out on a recognized exchange) is illegal and also violates foreign exchange management regulations, according to ED.

The agency’s investigation revealed an alleged nexus between international online forex trading brokers and their Indian partners/agents. The platform’s operations were reportedly managed and operated by the owner of the OctaFx Group entities based in Russia, Spain, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates. The investigation revealed the alleged existence of a panel of high-profile operators from countries including Russia, Estonia, Spain and the Czech Republic.

The entities of the online platform would have made a profit of more than ₹1,000 crores from the Indian region and part of these funds were distributed in a web of complex transactions with the help of front companies. These funds were then allegedly transferred overseas to entities linked in the name of fake freight and import services, according to ED sources.

The trading platform was widely promoted on social media sites and followed an SEO-based incentive model to acquire new users. ED’s investigation revealed that funds collected from users, through Unified Payments Interface/local bank transfers, were routed through bogus entities and ultimately ended up overseas. transactions. The investigation showed that part of the funds were allegedly fraudulently obtained from investors under the guise of forex trading on OctaFx. The money was then allegedly routed to alternative investment funds (AIFs) registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as investments in order to present them as legitimate funds, ED sources said .

OctaFx allegedly used entities based in the British Virgin Islands and Estonia to transfer funds for its promotional activities in order to attract new investors. This was corroborated by celebrities and production houses who participated in OctaFx’s promotional campaigns on different platforms, according to ED sources. ED’s investigation revealed that shell companies were allegedly used to distribute and divert funds through fraudulent e-commerce sites to circumvent restrictions imposed by payment gateways and hide the nature of these incoming funds, they said. indicated sources.

It was also alleged that the platform entrusted technical experts to help create a payments aggregator to circumvent beneficial ownership regulations. Such a payments aggregator would have been instrumental in redirecting misappropriated funds, thereby allowing OctaFx to receive money from unsuspecting investors, according to ED. The agency has seized or frozen assets worth approximately ₹118 crores in the case so far.