ED records statements of two actors in forex trading app case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded the statements of television actors Krystle D’Souza and Karan Wahi on Wednesday in a money laundering case related to the alleged illegal online forex trading app OctaFx. ED had also summoned another actor, Nia Sharma, in the case on Wednesday, but she did not turn up citing a prior commitment. ED is likely to issue a second summons to her.
ED alleged that people were lured into investing money through the app after seeing videos of celebrities and social media influencers made for the purpose. It stated that the promoters of the app, who are reportedly based abroad, had roped in these celebrities to create videos through production houses.
These actors and social media inffluencers had promoted the OctaFX app and created educational content for it. A few Bollywood actors who too promoted this app may face ED questioning.
While Nia Sharma declined to comment on the case, Karan Wahi did not respond to phone calls and messages and Krystle D’Souza was not reachable.
ED said the OctaFx app and website are operating in India in association with the India-based entity OctaFx India Pvt Ltd without the Reserve Bank of India’s authorisation to deal in forex trading.
During the investigation, ED discovered that multiple Indian bank accounts were being shown to investors and users on the OctaFx trading app and www.octafx.com for collecting funds under the guise of facilitating forex trading. A portion of these funds was layered through a web of complex transactions with the help of shell entities and remitted abroad to related entities under the pretext of bogus freight services and import of services, said ED.
It is alleged that OctaFx has manipulated trade activities and information shown on its platform, ultimately resulting in a net loss to the traders.
The accumulated funds, after defrauding these investors and users, were transferred to multiple e-wallet accounts or to bank accounts of dummy entities. This way, OctaFx India Pvt Ltd, OctaFx and their entities cheated investors under the guise of forex trading, thereby earning a profit of more than Rs 500 crore from the Indian region, said ED.
The ED money laundering case is based on an FIR filed at Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune. Three months ago, ED carried out searches and froze bank funds worth Rs 2.7 crore along with assets worth Rs 35 crore in the form of cryptocurrencies, bank balances and gold coins.