New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached high-value assets worth more than ₹131 crore in connection with a forex trading scam involving the platform OctaFX.
The seized items include a luxury yacht, a minijet boat, a costly car, and two residential properties in Spain. According to ED officials, these assets belong to Pavel Prozorov, who is considered the mastermind behind OctaFX.
A provisional attachment order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The yacht, named “Cherry”, is an Italian-model commercial vessel that operates in the western Mediterranean Sea.
Details of the Scam
The ED’s investigation began after the Pune Police registered an FIR at the Shivaji Nagar police station. The complaint alleged that OctaFX had defrauded investors by promising high returns through foreign exchange trading.
According to the agency:
- OctaFX is an unauthorised forex broker that was widely promoted through IPL cricket matches, social media, and even celebrities.
- Investor money was collected using fake e-commerce companies and mule accounts.
- These fake firms had dummy directors, manipulated KYC documents, and accessed payment gateways by posing as legitimate merchants.
- Funds were funneled through unauthorised payment aggregators and escrow accounts, creating layers to hide the real ownership and purpose of transactions.
Manipulation and Money Laundering
The ED also found that OctaFX:
- Changed its login URLs and website links frequently to hide its operations.
- Manipulated trades to cause investor losses.
- Transferred money to e-wallets and accounts of fake entities.
The total amount of proceeds of crime is suspected to be at least ₹800 crore, earned in just nine months from its activities in India.
Funds Moved Internationally
Officials believe that the money cheated from Indian investors was siphoned out of the country by showing it as fake payments for services imported to companies linked to Pavel Prozorov. These companies are based in Spain, Estonia, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK.
Earlier, the ED had already attached assets worth ₹296 crore, including 19 properties in Spain owned by Prozorov.
So far, the agency has filed two chargesheets, naming OctaFX and 54 other entities as accused.