STA Crypto-ponzi scam: EOW arrests one more accused
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch, which is investigating an alleged Rs 1,000 crore pan-India cryptocurrency fraud by a company called STA (Solar Techno Alliance) Token, has arrested another person.
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Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch, which is investigating an alleged Rs 1,000 crore pan-India cryptocurrency fraud by a company called STA (Solar Techno Alliance) Token, has arrested another person.
Ratnakar Palai (45), the arrested accused, will appear before the OPID Court in Cuttack on Wednesday.
According to an EOW release, Palai is an important and up-line member of STA, with a large number of members below him (referred to as down-line members in MLM/ Pyramid-based schemes/scams). "He has a close relationship with Gurtej Singh and Nirod Das." He holds an MTech in Information Technology from Karnataka University in Bangalore and describes himself as an international speaker, entrepreneur, and investment guru. He is also the STA's propaganda head and social media influencer in Odisha. He used to run a YouTube channel to spread the word about this scheme."
According to the release, he is also a part of other dubious scams that are being investigated. "He also runs a business called 'Learn to Earn." He has, however, deleted or deactivated his social media accounts since Gurtej and Nirod's arrest."
He also went to Goa with Nirod to celebrate STA, according to the report.
On August 7, Gurtej Singh Sidhu and Nirod Das were apprehended in Rajasthan and Bhadrak, respectively. They were also questioned while in EOW custody.
The EOW is said to have also learnt about the involvement of second foreigner, a Dutch national, in the scam. “While the firm is headed by one David Gez, a Hungarian national who visited India, including Odisha, multiple times to promote the illegal business, we have found the complicity of a citizen of The Netherlands in the fraud. We are trying to gather more details about him and his role,” EOW’s inspector general J N Pankaj told TOI.
The company ran an illegal pyramid-structured Ponzi business and collected around Rs 1,000 crore deposits from 2 lakh people across the country without having any authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India. Investors were lured on social media to invest in cryptocurrency and encouraged to enrol more investors under them. The company also offered an incentive to members to build the networks.
