<p>Guwahati: A special court at Dimapur in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nagaland">Nagaland</a> declared Bhupesh Arora, the "kingpin" in the Rs. 2,200 crores cryptocurrency racket run as HPZ Token, as a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) 2018.</p><p>Arora, who hails from Delhi, is believed to have fled to Dubai, the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday. The court issued the order on Wednesday in relation to a case, which was initially registered by the cyber crime police station in Nagaland's capital Kohima and was later transferred to the ED.</p><p>An investigation by ED revealed that a large number of gullible investors from across the country were duped in the garb of the promise of astronomic returns on investing money for mining of Bitcoin and other Crypto Currencies, for which an App based Token by the name of “HPZ Token” was used.</p>.Trump’s second term puts crypto centre stage — Is India ready?.<p>The proceeds of crime unearthed so far is Rs. 2,200 crores, of which Rs. 497.20 crores has been attached and frozen by ED so far. </p><p>The court's declaration allows the investigation agency to confiscate all assets of Arora. </p><p>"Investigation revealed that huge funds collected by cheating general/gullible public all over India were diverted to various shell companies and individuals/proprietorship concerns through various fraudulent schemes. During the course of the PMLA investigation, statements of individuals, proprietors/directors were recorded which revealed that one Bhupesh Arora and his close associates were the persons behind such fraudulent schemes and cheating the gullible public in all parts of India. Subsequently, at the behest of Arora, the said deposited amount was further transferred to create an untraceable layer of transactions and after several layers, the substantial money was also siphoned out of India," ED said in a statement on Thursday. </p><p>The ED has attached nine immovable properties valued at Rs 2.05 crores in Delhi belonging to Arora and 286 bank accounts and virtual accounts having Rs. 459.79 crores in 20 states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana. The ED said Arora had created over 200 companies including private limited companies either in his own name or in the name of his relatives and close associates to create the untraceable layer to launder money. </p><p>The ED said Arora has not appeared in compliance with its summons issued under section 50 (2) of PMLA, 2002 and another summon order by Gauhati High Court, Kohima bench on September 25, 2023. A non-bailable warrant was issued by the court in July 2024. The accused left India for Dubai in September 2022 after initiation of the case under PMLA to avoid criminal prosecution and also refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution, ED said.</p>
<p>Guwahati: A special court at Dimapur in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nagaland">Nagaland</a> declared Bhupesh Arora, the "kingpin" in the Rs. 2,200 crores cryptocurrency racket run as HPZ Token, as a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) 2018.</p><p>Arora, who hails from Delhi, is believed to have fled to Dubai, the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday. The court issued the order on Wednesday in relation to a case, which was initially registered by the cyber crime police station in Nagaland's capital Kohima and was later transferred to the ED.</p><p>An investigation by ED revealed that a large number of gullible investors from across the country were duped in the garb of the promise of astronomic returns on investing money for mining of Bitcoin and other Crypto Currencies, for which an App based Token by the name of “HPZ Token” was used.</p>.Trump’s second term puts crypto centre stage — Is India ready?.<p>The proceeds of crime unearthed so far is Rs. 2,200 crores, of which Rs. 497.20 crores has been attached and frozen by ED so far. </p><p>The court's declaration allows the investigation agency to confiscate all assets of Arora. </p><p>"Investigation revealed that huge funds collected by cheating general/gullible public all over India were diverted to various shell companies and individuals/proprietorship concerns through various fraudulent schemes. During the course of the PMLA investigation, statements of individuals, proprietors/directors were recorded which revealed that one Bhupesh Arora and his close associates were the persons behind such fraudulent schemes and cheating the gullible public in all parts of India. Subsequently, at the behest of Arora, the said deposited amount was further transferred to create an untraceable layer of transactions and after several layers, the substantial money was also siphoned out of India," ED said in a statement on Thursday. </p><p>The ED has attached nine immovable properties valued at Rs 2.05 crores in Delhi belonging to Arora and 286 bank accounts and virtual accounts having Rs. 459.79 crores in 20 states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana. The ED said Arora had created over 200 companies including private limited companies either in his own name or in the name of his relatives and close associates to create the untraceable layer to launder money. </p><p>The ED said Arora has not appeared in compliance with its summons issued under section 50 (2) of PMLA, 2002 and another summon order by Gauhati High Court, Kohima bench on September 25, 2023. A non-bailable warrant was issued by the court in July 2024. The accused left India for Dubai in September 2022 after initiation of the case under PMLA to avoid criminal prosecution and also refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution, ED said.</p>