Fake crypto Morris Coin scam of Rs 1,200 cr busted, 1 held

New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that they have got custody of one Abdul Gafoor till March 31 in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to fake Crypto Morris Coin case in which 900 investors were cheated to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore by one K. Nishad and others.

Gafoor, the director of Stox Global Brokers Private Limited, based in Malappuram, was arrested on March 24 and produced before a competent court in Kozhikode by the ED which initially remanded him to judicial custody.

On Tuesdsy, the ED said that they have got custodial remand of the accused till March 31.

Nishad, the main accused has reportedly fled the country. Property worth Rs 36.62 crore belonging to Nishad and others were earlier attached by the ED.

Gafoor was arrested as Rs 39 crore which was reportedly proceeds of crime was transferred through his firm. The ED has claimed that his firm is basically a shell company.

Initially, various FIRs were registered by Kerala police. As per these FIRs the accused allegedly cheated 900 innocent investors to the tune of Rs Rs 1,200 crore.

Nishad was the main accused, who cheated several investors by accepting investments, under a Ponzi scheme, through his three Bengaluru based firms -- Long Reach Global, Long Reach Technologies and Morris Trading, by offering high returns of dividend of 3 per cent to 5 per cent per day.

Later the ED initiated a probe of money laundering on the basis of the FIRs lodged by the Kerala Police. The ED official said that the offences under Section 420 of the IPC is scheduled offence of the PMLA, 2002.

The accused had invested the money in luxury cars, hotels and properties.

The ED learnt during the investigation that Nishad, the main accused, had appointed various persons as pin stockist, who had invested a minimum of Rs 10 lakh and Nishad promised them that he would give 5 per cent as commission on the investment. They made aggressive enrolment of new members into an illegal money circulation scheme under the garb of multi-level marketing, resorted to the fraudulent practice of investing the money received from the investors in the Morris Coin Cryptocurrency plan.

This further led to viral proliferation of the network of the scheme and thereby made huge wrongful gain at the cost of investors.

It was also learnt that Abdul Gafoor was one of the main pin stockists of the Morris Coin Scheme, has facilitated the placement and layering of the proceeds of crime. However, Gafoor was not co-operating with the investigation and was very evasive in his replies to the queries.

"For the above reasons and also considering the fact that Gafoor is one of the directors of Stoxglobal Brokers Pvt Ltd and as he has played an active role in facilitating the placement and layering of proceeds of crime, he was arrested," said the ED official.

Further Investigation in the matter is underway.