The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted extensive search operations targeting the forex trading platform OctaFx, accused of defrauding investors of several crores.
The raids, carried out by ED’s Mumbai Zone, took place in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Gurgaon under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Forex trading, which involves buying and selling currencies to profit from exchange rate fluctuations, is at the core of this investigation. The ED’s probe began following an FIR filed in Pune, alleging that several individuals deceived investors with false promises of high returns through the OctaFx platform.
OctaFx, unauthorized by the RBI to conduct forex trading, has been found to defraud investors, accumulating over ₹1,000 crore from India. Investigations revealed that these funds were laundered through complex transactions involving shell companies and remitted abroad under the guise of bogus freight services and import of services.
Additionally, a portion of the illicit money was funneled into SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) to present it as legitimate. OctaFx also used entities in the British Virgin Islands and Estonia to transfer funds for promotional activities aimed at attracting investors. The activities were managed by OctaFx group entities’ owner, based in Russia, Spain, Georgia, and Dubai.
So far, the ED has attached assets worth approximately ₹38 crore, including cryptocurrencies, bank balances, and gold coins. During the search operations, movable properties such as bank funds and Demat account holdings worth around ₹80.43 crore were frozen. Various incriminating documents and digital devices were also recovered and seized.
The total attachment and freezing of assets in this case now stand at approximately ₹118 crore, with further investigation ongoing.
