The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen bank deposits worth Rs 170 crore in connection with an alleged fraudulent forex trading and deposit scheme operated by QFX Trade Ltd. According to a report by the news agency PTI, the ED conducted searches this week at various locations in Delhi, Noida, Shamli (Uttar Pradesh), and Rohtak (Haryana) as part of their investigation into the trading platform, its directors (Rajendra Sood, Vineet Kumar and Santosh Kumar) and alleged mastermind Nawab Ali alias, Lavish Chaudhary. The money laundering probe is based on multiple FIRs filed by Himachal Pradesh Police alleging that QFX Trade Ltd defrauded investors through a fraudulent forex trading scheme.
What ED found in the money laundering investigation
According to the ED, QFX company and its directors operated an “unregulated” deposit scheme, luring investors with promises of high returns.
Agents of the QFX group of companies ran an MLM (multi-level marketing) scheme under the QFX investment plan, using websites, apps, and social media advertisements to attract investors with the promise of higher returns through forex trading, the agency noted.
Following the police FIRs, the ED discovered that the QFX scheme was rebranded as YFX (Yorker Fx) while maintaining the same modus operandi of “duping innocent investors by luring high rate of returns under the guise of forex trading.”
“In addition to QFX, more fraudulent investment schemes are being run and controlled by Nawab Ali alias Lavish Chaudhary, such as BotBro, TLC Coin, Yorker FX, projecting them as forex trading apps/websites,” the agency stated.
The ED found that various events were organised in India and Dubai to attract more investors.
The investigation revealed that multiple bank accounts belonging to NPay Box Private Limited, Capter Money Solutions Private Limited, and Tiger Digital Services Private Limited were being used for the “collection of funds” from investors.
The agency alleged that these were “shell” or dummy companies “used” by the masterminds of the QFX/YFX scheme to receive public deposits for forex trading investments.
The ED reported that funds amounting to Rs 170 crore, held across nearly 30 bank accounts, have been frozen after the company’s directors failed to explain their source.
Additionally, cash amounting to about Rs 90 lakh was seized separately during searches conducted against an agent of QFX/YFX, the agency added.