The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently questioned actress Tamannaah Bhatia in connection with the HPZ Token case. This questioning has been done during the investigation of a major money laundering case, in which many investors were defrauded under the guise of mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
HPZ Token scam and Tamannaah Bhatia’s role
Tamannaah Bhatia was questioned in this case related to HPZ Token as she had attended an event related to this token. She was paid a fee for that event. However, sources have made it clear that there are no serious allegations against Tamannaah Bhatia and her role has been limited to just participating in an event.
ED investigation has revealed that investors were lured with high returns from bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining using HPZ Token, while in reality, it turned out to be a big fraud case.
Investigation of money laundering and identification of accused
ED had filed a charge sheet in March this year, accusing 299 firms in the money laundering case related to this cybercrime. More than 70 of these firms were controlled by Chinese citizens. The investigation of this entire case started with an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Unit of Kohima Police in Nagaland. It was alleged in the FIR that some people had cheated investors by promising them high returns through mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Layering of funds through shell firms
ED found in its investigation that the accused had used the HPZ Token app to cheat investors. They also resorted to several shell firms for layering of funds, most of which had fake directors. It was an organized fraud, in which a large number of fake companies and individuals were used.
Fiewin Gaming Scam Revealed
Apart from this case, the ED has also unearthed another big Fiewin gaming scam, in which fraud of about Rs 400 crore (4.75 crore dollars) was committed. In this case, American crypto exchange Binance also played an important role in exposing this scam with the help of its intelligence division.
Fiewin was offering online gaming and betting under the guise of a legitimate app, and was luring users into a fraudulent trap. The app encouraged users to top up the in-app balance and when the balance increased, they were not allowed to withdraw funds. Binance said in a statement that public and private partnership in the fight against financial crimes can further increase their role in the crypto segment.
