KOCHI: The police investigation into ‘dealfxtrade’ crypto-currency scam revealed that prime accused K K Vinod received nearly Rs 24 crore in one of his bank accounts between June 2021 and June 2022.
As the preliminary evidence reveals a pan-India operation by Vinod and his accomplices involving different bank accounts, police are of the opinion that only an enforcement directorate (ED) probe will unearth whether he laundered the funds collected from over 1,000 persons promising huge returns to make them invest on the crypto-currency trade platform ‘dealfxtrade.com’.
As per the probe carried out by Perumbavoor police, a bank account of Vinod with the branch of a new generation bank at Piravom alone received Rs 24 crore. “He opened the particular bank account on May 3, 2021, solely for receiving the money which he allegedly swindled from people promising huge returns. In the due course of the probe, we got information that the accused and his accomplices had launched another fraudulent multilevel marketing scheme in the name of ‘Owl’ cryptocurrency and started a new website for it,” said a senior police officer.
The police team, which submitted a preliminary probe report before Perumbavoor Judicial First Class Magistrate Court - I, said the details of other bank accounts of Vinod and his accomplices were yet to be ascertained.
“There are pieces of evidence indicating that he had diverted the funds which he amassed allegedly duping the investors. But only a detailed probe would reveal for what purposes he had diverted these,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, a Malappuram-based businessman, Mujeeb Rahman, has lodged a complaint with Edakkara police station alleging that Vinod had siphoned off Rs 17 lakh from him promising three-fold returns by investing in ‘dealfxtrade’.
“I transferred a major portion of the money to the account of one of the accomplices of Vinod as directed by him. He made me do it on purpose. He now claims that he had returned a portion of the money in the form of cryptocurrency. He took money from us promising huge returns through the platform,” he added.