New Delhi, Jan 19 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday filed a supplementary chargesheet before a Special PMLA Court in Dimapur concerning the HPZ Token scam.
The court has taken cognizance of the supplementary prosecution complaint (SPC). The ED initiated its money laundering investigation based on a First Information Report registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Kohima, Nagaland.
During the investigation, it was found that the HPZ Token scam is a large-scale investment fraud in which gullible investors across the country were duped. They were fraudulently lured into investing through the HPZ Token App with false promises of high returns.
The PMLA investigation revealed the use of numerous mule accounts, shell companies, dummy directors, and the misuse of payment aggregator services to launder the proceeds of crime (POC), estimated to be approximately Rs. 2,200 crore.
Funds collected from investors were traced through UPI IDs linked to mule accounts at ICICI Bank. The money was then transferred to several shell companies, which misused the services of payment aggregators like PayU, Aggrepay, and Easebuzz. A small portion of the funds was returned to some investors to build trust and encourage further investment.
The proceeds were ultimately funneled into accounts of Shigoo Technology Private Limited and Lillian Technocab Private Limited. These entities further transferred the money to other shell companies allegedly controlled by key accused Bhupesh Arora and his associates.
According to the ED, Arora used this network of shell entities, mule accounts, hawala operators, and foreign currency exchangers to launder the illicit funds. Arora is currently under arrest by the ED in a separate case involving a similar fraudulent investment app.
Due to timely action by the agency, approximately Rs. 650 crore lying in the mule accounts has been attached. Further investigation in the matter is ongoing.
