ED issues Interpol notice to trace Russian national
New Delhi, Dec. 22 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued an Interpol silver notice and is coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol to locate the assets and criminal network of Pavel Prozorov, a Russian national accused of running unauthorised forex trading platform OctaFX that duped Indian investors of an estimated Rs.5,000 crore, people familiar with the development said on Sunday.
Prozorov was arrested by the Spanish law enforcement agency, Guardia Civil, in October this year. OctaFX and Prozorov are accused of duping Indian investors of approximately Rs.1,875 crore between July 2022 and April 2023, generating profits of around Rs.800 crore.
According to the ED probe, considering the company's operations from 2019 to 2024, total profits from India are estimated to exceed Rs.5,000 crore, most of which has been illicitly transferred overseas.
The platform operated in other countries as well and is banned in the Philippines, Pakistan, and Nigeria, among other countries.
The Interpol silver notice allows the member countries to share information with the requesting country - in this case India - about the criminal assets in foreign jurisdictions. Officials requesting anonymity said Estonia has already shared details of three companies and residential addresses related to the case while authorities in Madrid (Spain) have provided information about Prozorov's 11 properties and four cars.
In September, the federal financial crimes probe agency had attached assets worth Rs.2,681 crore in the case - including cryptocurrencies worth Rs.2,385 crore in Spain, 19 immovable properties and a luxury yacht owned by Prozorov in Spain - with the help of FBI and local authorities. Besides, ED has filed two charge sheets against OctaFX and 54 other accused persons/entities, officials said....
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