The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police on August 7 claimed to have unearthed one of the largest cryptocurrency-based Ponzi schemes involving ₹1,000 crore and two lakh investors.
The EOW arrested Gurtej Singh Sidhu, 40, the India head of STA (Solar Techno Alliance) Crypto Token, from Sri-Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
Sidhu, a native of Faridkot, Punjab, was produced before a local court in Sri-Ganganagar which granted a seven-day transit remand. He was brought to Odisha and would be produced before the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) Court, Cuttack.
Launched in 2021, STA Crypto was operating through websites and social media accounts. It claimed to be a “one-stop solar technology service” that enabled users to order anything they like from the nearest farmers in shortest amount of time using blockchain technology.
However, EOW chief Jai Narayan Pankaj said, “Not authorised by Reserve Bank of India [RBI] or any other authority to collect deposits, the STA runs a huge Ponzi multi-level marketing [MLM] scheme... STA uses socially popular terms like green energy and solar technology to mask its crypto-ponzi scam.”
The STA website was hosted from Iceland. The STA is allegedly headed by David Gez, a young Hungarian national who has visited India multiple times, while Sidhu is said to have reached the top of STA’s pyramid structure (Kohinnor leadership in STA language), says EOW.
“Like any other MLM scheme, members initially got some monetary benefits which tempted them to add more and more members under them. Transactions [credit and debit] of more than ₹30 crore was noticed in the bank account of Nirod Das, Odisha head of STA,” Mr. Pankaj informed.
He said, “There were huge cash deposits in his [Das] accounts which indicate that a lot of black money was routed or parked in this scam. All the accounts were frozen. Total money involved [Pan-India] in STA was estimated to be more than ₹1,000 crore.”
Members were promised that they would earn $20 to $3000 per day if they would add more members under them. Besides, they were promised bonus and various royalties for adding new members.
Odisha EOW says Sidhu and David were always seen enjoying a luxurious lifestyle which included possession of expensive cars and fancy clothes, were surrounded by bouncers and received a hero’s welcome in meetings.
“At a celebration held in a luxurious star hotel in Goa last week, more than 1,000 up-line members including many from Odisha were present. Film star Govinda was the chief guest of that celebration. Govinda had also released some video promoting or endorsing the STA,” the EOW investigation revealed.
After getting intelligence from various sources that a cryptocurrency-based ponzi scheme was being run in Odisha especially in Bhadrak, Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kendrapada and Keonjhar districts, the EOW began an inquiry on STA.
“It is estimated that more than 10,000 people from Odisha are members of this scheme. This scheme has more than two lakh members in India, mainly from States like Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Assam,” said Mr. Pankaj.
