The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs14 crore in the Morris Coin Crypto Currency cheating case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached assets include balance in bank accounts of Fly With Me Mobile LLP (a firm owned by Nishad and Hasif K) and immovable properties of associates of Nishad K, purchased out of the proceeds of crime. The attached properties include bank balance held in the bank account of Fly With Me App, a hospital in Kochi, and 52 acres of agricultural land in Tamil Nadu.
The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of various FIRs registered in various police stations against Nishad K and others persons for cheating people on the pretext of giving high returns of 2-3 percent per day to the investors. “During the course of investigation conducted under PMLA, it has been ascertained that Nishad K via his various firms such as Long Rich Global, Long Rich Technologies and Morris Trading Solutions collected deposits from the investors in the guise of Initial Coin Offer for the launch of Morris Coin Crypto Currency,” the ED said in a statement.
By conducting promotional events in presence of celebrities, introducing the investors to flashy websites and by provision of e-wallets to each investor via web-based applications, Nishad K has collected deposits from the investors via various pin stockists.
The amounts collected were then transferred into bank accounts of Nishad K and his firms. Subsequently, the collected amounts were layered into shell companies.
From bank statement analysis of accounts pertaining to Nishad K and his firms, it was found that numerous firms/companies were used to launder proceeds of crime into multiple bank accounts.
Earlier, movable and immovable properties worth Rs 36.72 crore were attached by the ED. In this case, the ED had also arrested Abdul Gafoor, Managing Director of Stoxglobal Brokers Pvt. Ltd. on March 24.
Further, ED has also filed a Prosecutions Complaint (chargesheet) against six accused persons before the Special Court PMLA, Kozhikode on May 21. Total attachment in this case now stands at Rs 50.72 crore.