On request of the Odisha Economic Offences Wing (EOW) which is investigating into the Rs 1,000-crore pan-India Solar Techno Alliance (STA) Token crypto-ponzi scam, the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) has issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against three more persons in connection with the scam.
The LOC has been issued against Krishna Kumar, Anil Kumar and Bhoora Ram, all natives of Rajasthan.
The trio are close associates of STA Token’s India head Gurtej Singh Sidhu and look after the financial and technical management of the Crypto-currency-based ponzi scheme. They are also the top earners and among the top brass of STA pyramid.
The EOW suspected that the top up-line members are planning to leave India and flee to Dubai or Thailand.
Earlier, the LOC was issued again, a Hungarian national David Gez, who is the global head of the STA Token firm.
So far, the EOW has arrested three accused persons including Gurtej Sigh Sidhu in the multi-crore Crypto-ponzi scam. Other two were Nirod Das, who is the Odisha head of the STA Token and Ratnakar Palai, a key associate of Sidhu and propaganda head/social media and influencer of STA. All three have been booked under Sections 420/467/468/471/120-B of IPC and Sections 4/5/6 of PCMS Act. They were also taken on remand for custodial interrogation by the investigative agency.
The crypto currency-based ponzi scheme was active in Odisha especially in Bhadrak, Baleswar, Bhubaneswar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kendrapada and Keonjhar districts following which the EOW conducted an inquiry. During investigation, it was found that the company with help of its members were using various propaganda tools to persuade people to join the scheme alluring them of high returns in a very short time.
During investigation, it was found that members have started using the STA token like a legal tender in their day-to-day business. It is estimated that more than 10,000 people from Odisha have already been members of this scheme. This scheme has more than 2 lakh members (Pan India) mainly in the States like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.