In accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs. 34.75 crores in connection with the investigation of the illegal forex trading platform M/s. OctaFX, its related entities, and others on April 19, 2023. The attachments include cash, gold coins, vehicles, cryptocurrency, and bank balances, among other things.
Based on an FIR that the Pune Police had filed under many sections of the IPC 1860 and the MPID Act, the ED had begun an inquiry. Furthermore, the OctaFX trading app and website (www.octaindia.net, hi.octafx.com, and www.octafx.com) are listed on an Alert List of Unauthorised Entities/ETPs that was released by the RBI in a press release dated February 10, 2023.
According to an investigation by the ED, the aforementioned online trading website and app operate in India in collaboration with the country’s M/s OctaFx India Pvt. Ltd. This social networking site is used to market the forex trading platform heavily, and it also uses referral-based incentive structures to attract people to its platforms. According to the inquiry, investors and users of the OctaFX trading app and website were shown many accounts from various Indian banks in order to raise money under the premise of enabling forex trading. After scamming these investors/users, the aforementioned accrued cash were moved to several e-wallet accounts or to the bank accounts of fake businesses for layering.
It is also disclosed that a significant chunk of the money that was fraudulently obtained through this trading software was utilised to build personal riches by OctaFx agents. Additionally, it looks that M/s. OctaFX is influencing trade operations through the use of its trading platform, which eventually costs the traders money. These deceptive online marketing in India and frequent slippage fluctuations are just a few of the manipulative strategies used to entice unsuspecting investors. In order to run the OctaFX trading platform and persuade Indian residents to participate in forex trading through OctaFX, M/s. OctaFX has also employed numerous Indians who are now based in Russia and Spain. Further research is now being conducted.
