Rs 800 crore OctaFX money laundering case: Enforcement Directorate searches 7 places in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai
Mumbai:
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) conducted searches at seven locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Chennai in connection with the Rs 800-crore money laundering investigation against OctaFX, and seized documents and digital devices for examination.
The ED alleged that OctaFX engaged in illegal online forex trading through international brokers, namely OctaFx Trading app and www.octafx.com. In a press release, the ED stated, "OctaFX, in partnership with OctaFx India Pvt Ltd, operated in India without RBI authorisation. They defrauded investors under the guise of forex trading, generating over Rs 800 crore in less than a year."
The ED claimed that OctaFX routed investor funds through mule accounts into escrow accounts of the unauthorised payment aggregator, Dinero Payment Services.
Shell firms posing as e-commerce platforms were onboarded using fake KYCs to access payment gateways and avoid detection.
Investor funds were disguised as online purchases, layered through multiple accounts, and ultimately disbursed as fake forex or betting payouts to obscure their origin, the ED claimed. The agency added that OctaFX used URL masking techniques to disguise the identity of payment gateways and evade regulatory detection.
Till date, the ED has attached assets worth Rs.160.8 crore, including properties in Spain, in the case.
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