MADURAI: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) police detained K Ranjith and his wife Priyadharshini, suspected to be kingpins in the multi-crore FQL crypto currency investment scam from Dindigul on Monday evening. The two were taken to Madurai for questioning and are likely to be formally arrested on Tuesday.
At least 40,000 people from across Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul and Sivaganga fell victims over the past seven months.
The two allegedly operated fraudulent schemes under the names FQL Investment Trading”, “FQL Exchange App” and “VG Investment Group Syndicate.”
Preliminary investigation revealed that agents lured people to invest in cash and UPI transactions.
A portion of the funds was allegedly converted into Tether (USDT) and credited to FQL/VG wallets. Subsequently, withdrawals failed, and investors’ balances became inaccessible.
Based on complaints received from victims across the four districts, police registered six cases.
The DGP (HoPF) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal on August 31 transferred the cases to EOW.