ED attaches ₹10.24 crore in HPZ Token investment case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached about ₹10.24 crore kept in 94 bank accounts in connection with the HPZ Token investment scam.

The scam was a large-scale investment fraud wherein people across the country were cheated on the false promise of high returns. “The investigation has further brought to light the use of a large number of mule accounts, shell companies, dummy directors, and misuse of payment aggregator services to layer and launder the Proceeds of Crime,” the agency says.

“Tracing of the financial trail has established the movement of funds from investors to the key accused, including Bhupesh Arora and his associates. The funds were initially collected through multiple UPI IDs linked to mule accounts maintained with a private bank. Thereafter, the Proceeds of Crime were transferred to various shell companies, which received funds by misrepresenting and misusing payment aggregator platforms such as PayU, Aggrepay and Easebuzz,” the ED said.

A small portion of the funds was cycled back to investors to create a false sense of legitimacy and induce further investments, it is alleged.

The agency unearthed a complex network of mule accounts and shell entities in which Bhupesh Arora, his father Gulshan Arora, and other associates allegedly were directors. The total proceeds of alleged crime identified by the ED in the case is about ₹2,200 crore, of which more than ₹662 crore has been attached so far.