Indian Enforcement Directorate Conducts Raid Linked to Crypto Fraud Ring

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Sujha Sundararajan

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August 2, 2024 05:05 EDT

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The Indian Directorate of Enforcement (ED), on Friday, raided at least six premises, probing a money laundering case linked to a crypto fraud ring – Emollient Coin.

Per local reports, the investigation marks the first ever raid in the union territory of Ladakh, and parts of states including Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.

According to the officials, the probe revealed that more than 2,500 investors deposited over $876.43K in a crypto fraud business.

Dubbed “Emollient Coin Limited,” the company, however, did not return any money back. Rather, the accused, named AR Mir, used the funds to purchase real estate in Jammu, before dissolving the company.

The case stems from an FIR (first information report), logged in March 2020, in the city of Leh. The FIR followed several other complaints against two accused individuals named Mir and Ajay Kumar Choudhary.

Emollient was incorporated in 2017, with a registered office in London, under the company’s director named Henry Maxwell.

Following multiple complaints, a committee established by the local district magistrate conducted a probe into Emollient Coin promoter Mir and his agents. During the enquiry, the committee sealed the office noting that they were “cheating many innocent individuals by assuring them to double their investment.”

The Emollient Coin Saga

According to the company description in Tracxn, a startup data platform, Emollient Coin provides a decentralized storage blockchain. It offers its native coin based on Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, used for buying and renting storage spaces.

The ED officials said Friday that the accused enticed individuals to invest in “Emollient Coin” using cash or bank transfers. Later, they deceived the depositors with a promise of returns up to 40%, with a lock-in period of 10 months.

Additionally, the Emollient Coin also offered investors a commission of up to 7% of the investment for referral, creating multi-level marketing.

India has already been suffering from the recent massive hack of the crypto exchange WazirX, that drained $234 million. The exchange has reportedly sought former partner Binance for help in bailing out affected customers.