Cryptocurrency Fraud: ED attaches assets of Nishad K worth Rs 36 crore for duping investors

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate has attached assets valued at Rs.36,72,47,752/-  of Nishad K, MD and his associates in the Morris Coin CryptoCurrency Case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,2002 in a cheating case. The attached assets include balances in multiple bank accounts of Nishad K and his companies, immovable property including the land of an associate close to Nishad K and INR equivalent of cryptocurrencies purchased out of the proceeds of crime by a close associate.

ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by Kerala Police. Kerala Police has registered multiple FIRs in various districts such as Malappuram, Kannur and others. As per the FIRs, more than 900 investors were cheated to the tune of Rs 1200 crore.

The money laundering investigation carried out so far revealed that  Nishad K through his various companies such as M/s Long Rich Global, M/s Long Rich Technologies and M/s Morris Trading Solutions collected deposit money from the investors in the guise of an Initial Coin Offer for the launch of Morris Coin CryptoCurrency. Investors were impressed by conducting promotional events in the presence of celebrities, introducing the investors to flashy websites by the provision of e-wallets to each investor via web-based applications. The amounts so collected by duping. the investors were siphoned through various companies operated by him and his associates.

The deposits taken from the general public were illegal and without any statutory permission from any regulatory agencies. This was a Ponzi scheme & investors were lured with the promise of a very high return.

The money obtained was used for the purchase of immovable properties, for the purchase of various other Cryptocurrencies, for the purchase of luxury cars, and for spending in luxury hotels and resorts.

In this regard, the cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (5.92387265), BTC (0.08267646), BNB (5.51232875), YFI (0.023062), VET (4284.4), ADA (226.479601), USDT (35.88576551) totally valued at INR 25,82,794 were found and all the above cryptocurrencies, purchased out of the proceeds of crime, were converted into INR and attached by the Enforcement Directorate.

In addition, a search action was conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA,2002 at 11 premises situated across various States such as Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and New Delhi resulting in the identification of details worth several Crore of immovable and other property details.  The premises include the residential and office premises of the entities that are related to Nishad K and his companies.

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