ED Raids 21 Sites: Crypto Ponzi Scheme Unveiled! 🚨💰

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Behold, the mighty Enforcement Directorate, that stalwart guardian of financial virtue, descended upon twenty-one locations with the grace of a storm, unearthing a decade-long deception! 🕵️‍♂️💸 A fake crypto-platform Ponzi, cunning as a fox in a henhouse, allegedly laundered funds via wallets, shell firms, hawala, and foreign accounts. 🧠🧱

  • The Bengaluru office of the ED, that tireless sentinel of the law, embarked on a grand expedition, scouring twenty-one premises across the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Delhi, all under the banner of PMLA, in pursuit of the elusive 4th Bloc Consultants, whose crypto investment fraud had become the talk of the town. 🧾
  • These cunning operators, with their fake platforms that mimicked the genuine articles, employed stolen images of crypto gurus, dangled small early returns like a carrot to the naive, and relied on the time-honored MLM strategy, spreading their web through social media, as if it were a modern-day plague. 📱📈
  • The proceeds, oh the proceeds! They were funneled through a myriad of crypto wallets, shell companies, hawala channels, and foreign accounts, a veritable maze of financial alchemy. Now, the properties and wallet addresses lie in the clutches of the authorities, like a thief caught red-handed. 🧾🧾

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a coordinated raid at 21 locations across Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Delhi on Dec. 18, targeting an organization accused of operating a cryptocurrency fraud scheme, according to government statements. 🕵️‍♂️📜

The operation, carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), focused on offices and residences linked to 4th Bloc Consultants and its associates. Investigators allege the scheme defrauded investors in India and abroad over nearly a decade. 🧠🌍

According to the ED investigation, which originated from a complaint filed by Karnataka state police, the alleged perpetrators operated through fictitious investment platforms designed to resemble legitimate global cryptocurrency exchanges. The platforms featured personal dashboards, real-time balances and transaction histories, investigators said. 📊💻

India’s ED raids continue

However, no actual market transactions occurred behind the interface, according to the ED. Investigators described the structure as a Ponzi scheme or multi-level marketing (MLM) model, in which funds paid by users were allegedly laundered through the organization. 🕳️💸

The group allegedly used images of known cryptocurrency commentators and public figures without authorization to enhance credibility, according to investigators. These fabricated testimonials reportedly served to attract new investors. 🧑‍💼🎭

The scheme allegedly paid initial investors small returns to establish trust, according to the ED. Victims were then encouraged to invest larger amounts and recruit new members through referral bonuses. The organization used social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram to expand the network internationally, investigators said. 📱🌍

The ED reported that seized funds, classified as proceeds of crime, were moved through a complex concealment system. This included multiple cryptocurrency wallets used to divide and obscure sums, hawala transactions, paper companies, channels to transfer funds outside regulated banking systems, and undeclared foreign accounts where cryptocurrency was converted to cash through peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. 💸🧾

Authorities identified numerous digital wallet addresses during the searches and seized movable and immovable assets acquired in India and abroad with alleged proceeds from the activities, according to the ED. 🧾🧱

Investigators said the operation allegedly dates back to at least 2015. The promoters of 4th Bloc Consultants adapted their techniques over the years to evade detection as cryptocurrency regulations evolved, according to the ED. 🕰️📈

The ED stated that analysis of seized servers and devices continues and the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities said the goal is to map the network of foreign entities involved and recover funds to compensate victims. 🧭🔍

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2025-12-25 16:18