ED Raids Eight Locations in Crypto Ponzi Scam Probe
₹2,300-crore fake crypto-MLM racket under scanner in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
- ED conducts searches at eight locations in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
- Probe linked to ₹2,300-crore fake cryptocurrency Ponzi and MLM scam
- Mastermind Subhash Sharma fled India in 2023
- Assets, lockers and bank deposits frozen; documents seized
GG News Bureau
Chandigarh/Shimla, 15th Dec: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday carried out coordinated search operations at eight locations across Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in connection with a fake cryptocurrency-based Ponzi and Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam that allegedly duped investors of around ₹2,300 crore.
The searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following multiple FIRs registered in the two states against the alleged mastermind, Subhash Sharma, who fled the country in 2023, and his associates. The accused have been booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Chit Funds Act, and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, among others.
According to the ED, the group operated fraudulent crypto-MLM schemes through self-created and unregulated platforms such as Korvio, Voscrow, DGT, Hypenext and A-Global. Investors were allegedly lured with promises of exceptionally high returns, while the schemes functioned as classic Ponzi operations, using funds from new investors to pay earlier participants.
The agency said its searches revealed manipulation of fictitious token prices, repeated shutdown and rebranding of platforms to evade law enforcement, and large-scale laundering of proceeds of crime. Funds were allegedly collected in cash and routed through builders, shell entities and personal accounts of the accused and their relatives.
Investigators also found that several commission agents earned crores of rupees by onboarding new investors, often incentivised through foreign trips and promotional events. Despite freezing orders issued in November 2023, the ED said 15 plots in Zirakpur in Punjab’s Mohali district were illegally sold by one of the accused in violation of the law.
The searches resulted in the freezing of three bank lockers, attachment of bank deposits worth around ₹1.2 crore, and seizure of incriminating documents, investor databases and digital devices. The material seized points to large-scale money laundering and acquisition of properties in the names of associates and unidentified persons.
The ED said further investigation is underway to trace additional assets and identify other beneficiaries of the alleged scam.
