The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Odisha State Police on Monday claimed to have uncovered a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme worth Rs 1,000 crore.
EOW has arrested Gurtej Singh Sidhu (40), the Indian head of the Ponzi scheme ‘STA Crypto token’ from Sri-Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
EOW said in a statement that Gurteji is a native of Faridkot, Punjab. He was taken to a court in Sri Ganganagar, who granted a seven-day transit remand. He was brought to Odisha on Monday and is due to appear in a court in Cuttack.
EOW said he frequently changed his position in Goa, Lonavala, Mumbai, Delhi, Faridkot, Bathinda, Hanumangad and Sri Ganganagar, said DSP Sasmita Sahoo A team led tracked his location before apprehending him.
EOW also arrested a Nirod Das of Bhadrak who is the head of STA in Odisha. Prior to this, EOW has filed a case on this issue.
After getting intelligence from various sources, Odisha is implementing cryptocurrency based Ponzi scheme especially in Badrak, Balasore, Bhubaneshwar, Mayurbanji, Jajpur, Kendra Pada and Koonjal districts were subsequently surveyed.
EOW stated that during the investigation, it was found that STA was very active in these areas through some online members, who have been using various promotional tools to persuade people to join the program and earn huge sums of money in a very short period of time.
It was found that members have started using STA tokens as legal tender in their daily business. It is estimated that more than 10,000 people in Odisha have become members of the scheme.
The scam has over two lakh members (Pan India) mainly in Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra States such as Odisha and Assam.
The Solar Technology Alliance (STA) was launched in September 2021. On its website and social media accounts, it claims to be a “one-stop solar technology service that enables users to order anything they like from the nearest farmer in the shortest possible time using blockchain technology”.
However, during the investigation it was found that STA was not authorized by RBI or any other authority to collect deposits. It runs a giant Ponzi scheme under the guise of cryptocurrency tokens. STA uses social buzzwords such as green energy and solar technology to cover up its crypto Ponzi scheme.
STA’s website is hosted in Iceland, but its business activities are limited to India. Its leader is David Gez, a young Hungarian who has visited India several times, EOW said, adding that the Indian operations are run by Gurtej Singh Sidhu .
Both David Gez and Gurtej Sidhu have traveled to various parts of India, including Odisha, and participated in various STA projects. “Members promise that if they join the program and add more members, they will earn between US$20 (approximately Rs. 1,656) and US$3,000 (approximately Rs. 248,000) per day,” EOW said in a statement.
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