Kohima, March 17 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Dimapur Sub Zonal Office has temporarily attached 94 bank accounts linked to illicit funds amounting to approximately Rs 10.24 crore in relation to the HPZ Token investment fraud, as reported by officials on Tuesday.

This action was executed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of the agency’s ongoing inquiry into the purported extensive cyber-enabled financial deception.

Officials indicated that this latest move is a continuation of the ED’s rigorous efforts against the fraudulent investment scheme that allegedly misled investors nationwide by guaranteeing high returns via the HPZ Token application.

The inquiry was initiated following an FIR lodged by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Kohima under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code against HPZ Token and associated parties. The investigation also includes related FIRs filed by the CID Police Station in Ulubari, Guwahati, along with a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Delhi.

The ED noted that the scam was characterized by enticing unsuspecting investors to put their money into the HPZ Token mobile application with the promise of substantial returns. The agency's findings have uncovered the utilization of numerous mule bank accounts, shell companies, and dummy directors to obscure and redirect the illicit proceeds.

As they traced the financial movements, investigators discovered that investments were first collected through various UPI IDs connected to mule accounts held at a private bank. Subsequently, these funds were shifted through different shell entities and funneled via payment aggregator services such as PayU, Razorpay, and Easebuzz.

Officials disclosed that a segment of the funds was recycled back to investors in the early phases to foster a false sense of legitimacy and entice further investments.

Further analysis has revealed a web of shell entities and mule accounts allegedly managed by the primary suspect, Bhupesh Arora, alongside his father, Gulshan Arora, and other collaborators. The entities involved include companies like Dig India Marketing, AnalytIQ Business Ventures Private Limited, Freebie Solutions Private Limited, Truvinta Solutions Private Limited, Zavion Trading Private Limited, and Sark Enroll System Private Limited.

The ED has estimated that the total illicit proceeds identified in this case are around Rs 2,200 crore, with assets amounting to about Rs 662 crore already attached.

The latest investigation has also led to the identification of 94 additional mule bank accounts with total balances approximating Rs 10.24 crore, now attached under the current provisional order.

The agency has confirmed that a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special PMLA Court in Dimapur, and the case is presently under adjudication, with further investigations ongoing.