ED, Chandigarh Zonal Office has provisionally attached 7 immovable properties worth Rs. 4.50 Crore and cash amounting to Rs. 1.70 Crore under PMLA, 2002 in connection with cheating of crores of rupees under the guise of investment in the name of fake entity Crypto World Trading Company.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Chandigarh Zonal Office has provisionally attached 7 immovable properties worth Rs. 4.50 Crore and cash amounting to Rs. 1.70 Crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a cheating case.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Haryana Police, against Vikas Kalra and others. The FIR was registered by the predicate agency on the basis of complaint filed by various investors. During investigation, it is revealed that there are multiple FIRs registered in this matter by Police authorities.
Investigation has revealed that Vikas Kalra, Tarun Taneja and others in connivance with each other floated a fictitious and non-existent entity in the name of Crypto World Trading Company for attracting investments from innocent public with allurement of exorbitant returns. They cheated thousands of investors using a website of the entity, created their user IDs and paid the returns in the form of credit points which could only be redeemed through adding new investors. The investments worth crores of rupees were mainly received by the suspects in cash, bank accounts and crypto wallets.
ED scrutinized multiple bank accounts of suspected persons and their family members which revealed that Proceeds of Crime have been laundered through various bank accounts, crypto wallets and finally invested in the immovable properties held in the name of their family members. Proceeds of Crime generated in cash have also been utilised in purchasing these immovable properties.
Further investigation is under progress.