EOW Odisha claims to have unearthed a massive cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scam
The Hindu
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha police on August 7 claimed to have unearthed one of the largest cryptocurrency-based Ponzi schemes involving ₹1,000 crore and two lakh people.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha police on August 7 claimed to have unearthed one of the largest cryptocurrency-based Ponzi schemes involving ₹1,000 crore and two lakh people.
The EOW arrested Gurtej Singh Sidhu (40), the India head of one STA (Solar Techno Alliance) Crypto Token, from Sri-Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
Sidhu, a native of Faridkot, Punjab, was produced before local court in Sri-Ganganagar which granted seven days transit of remand. He was brought to Odisha and would be produced before Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) Court, Cuttack.
Launched in 2021, the STA (Solar Techno Alliance) Crypto was operating through website and social media accounts. It was said to be a one stop solar technologies service that enabled users to order anything they like from the nearest farmers in shortest amount of time using block chain technology, says EOW in a statement.
EOW Chief Jai Narayan Pankaj said, “not authorized by Reserve Bank of India or any other authorities to collect deposits, the STA runs a huge Ponzi multi-level marketing scheme in the garb of crypto token. STA uses the socially popular terms like green energy and solar technology to mask its Crypto-Ponzi scam.”
The STA website was hosted from Iceland. The STA is headed by one David Gez, a young Hungarian (Europe) national who has visited India multiple times, while Sidhu is said to have reached the top level of STA’s Pyramid structure (Kohinnor leadership in STA language), says EOW.
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