AFTER seizing properties in Spain, the Enforcement Directorate conducted coordinated multi-city searches across seven locations, including Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, in a Rs 800 crore illegal forex trading case registered in Pune, an official said on Tuesday. The ED seized incriminating documents and digital devices during searches as part of an ongoing probe in the case of illegal online forex trading through the international broker -- OctaFx Trading App and website www.octafx.com.

 

The searches were conducted on Friday at seven locations, including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Gurgaon under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the federal agency said in a statement. The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Shivaji Nagar Police Station in Pune against individuals accused of duping investors with false promises of high returns via the OctaFX forex trading platform. The federal agency’s investigation revealed that 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, said the statement. Searches revealed that OctaFX routed investor funds through mule accounts into escrow accounts of unauthorised payment aggregator Dinero Payment Services, it said.

 

The ED said shell firms posing as e-commerce platforms were onboarded using fake KYCs to access payment gateways and avoid detection. Funds of investors were disguised as online purchases, layered through multiple accounts, and ultimately disbursed as fake forex or betting payouts to obscure their origin, it said. Almost half of the user funds were diverted from the OctaFX platform to mule payout accounts. These accounts were used to disburse money under the false pretence of e-commerce refunds, chargebacks and vendor payments, effectively concealing the actual flow and purpose of the funds, the ED said.

 

Search operations also uncovered that OctaFX used URL masking techniques to disguise the identity of payment gateways and evade regulatory detection, it said. Instead of directing users to clearly identifiable payment links, they used misleading or generic URLs, making it difficult for authorities and banks to trace the transactions back to unauthorised or illicit sources. As part of the ongoing probe, the ED has so far attached/frozen assets worth Rs160.8 crore, including properties in Spain, and also filed two Prosecution Complaints, said the statement.