ED attaches properties worth Rs 1.06 crore under PMLA in Meghalaya

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 1.06 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case linked to ''Global Media App'', an alleged fraudulent online earning platform that generated proceeds of crime worth over Rs 45 crore, officials said on Saturday. The attachment was carried out by the ED's Shillong Sub-Zonal Office under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an ongoing investigation into a large-scale cheating case involving investors lured through a fake online earning and investment scheme. The probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Madanriting Police Station in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district following allegations of cheating through the ''Global Media App''. According to the ED, the accused persons operated the application as a ponzi-style investment scheme disguised as an online advertising platform that promised users daily passive income for watching advertisement videos. ''Users were induced to upgrade to various VIP membership plans by paying substantial amounts with assurances of high daily returns and referral commissions,'' the agency said in a statement. The ED said its investigation revealed that the fraudsters promoted the application extensively through a telegram channel operated by individuals using foreign mobile numbers and collected funds from investors through bank transfers, UPI transactions and cryptocurrency wallets. ''The scheme remained operational from June 3, 2022, to October 12, 2022, after which the perpetrators abruptly shut down the application and absconded with the collected funds,'' it said. The agency said the proceeds of crime generated through the alleged fraud amounted to around Rs 45.33 crore. ''Investigation identified multiple bank accounts, merchant IDs, payment gateway accounts and crypto wallets used for collection and layering of the proceeds of crime,'' the ED said. It further alleged that the collected funds were routed through several layers of bank accounts and mule merchant entities enrolled with payment gateways to conceal the money trail. The ED also found that cryptocurrency wallets operating on the TRON blockchain network were used for collection and transfer of USDT (Tether) tokens. During the course of investigation, the agency conducted enquiries with banks, payment gateways, Google, Telegram and cryptocurrency exchanges to trace the flow of funds. Analysis of financial transactions and blockchain transfers helped investigators identify proceeds of crime currently available in various bank accounts, which were subsequently attached under Section 5 of the PMLA, officials said. The ED further claimed that the fraud had an international dimension. ''The Telegram channel through which the application was promoted was administered by four individuals whose mobile numbers were registered in Cambodia and Malaysia,'' the agency said. It also said the gmail accounts used to operate the backend of the app were registered with ''Terms of service country: Cambodia'', indicating that operational control of the scheme was located outside India during the operative period. According to the ED, a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime, around Rs 2.45 crore, was collected directly from victims in the form of USDT tokens through the TRON blockchain and later routed to accounts on a foreign cryptocurrency exchange. ''KYC particulars of the immediate end recipients on the said exchange have been obtained, and the onward movement of the funds is being traced,'' the agency added.

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