During its money-laundering investigation into the app-based token termed HPZ & connected organizations, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at multiple commercial & residential locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, & Gaya.
On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided six locations across Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai & Gaya in connection with its laundering money probe involving the app-based token named HPZ & related entities, as part of its ongoing investigative process into loan & betting apps operated by Chinese companies. In connection with the HPZ token investigation, the agency also froze the accounts of Paytm, Razorpay, Cashfree, & Pune-based Easebuzz Private Limited, totaling Rs 46 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that searches were also carried out at 16 more locations, including those in Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bengaluru, including banks & payment gateway branches and offices.
An FIR was filed with the ED on November 8, 2021, by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Kohima, Nagaland.
“During the search, various incriminating documents have been recovered and seized. Huge balances were found to be maintained in the virtual accounts of the involved entities with payment aggregators. Rs 33.36 crore was found with Easebuzz Private Limited, Pune, Rs 8.21 crore with Razorpay Software Private Limited, Bangalore, Rs 1.28 crore with Cashfree Payments India Private Limited, Bangalore, and Rs 1.11 crore with Paytm Payments Services Limited, New Delhi. Total amount of around Rs 46.67 crore was detected and frozen in various bank accounts and virtual accounts,” in an ED statement.
In a second case involving loan applications, the ED conducted raids on September 3 at locations connected to Paytm, Razorpay, & Cashfree. In August of 2020, the government agency had seized about Rs 47 crore from a Chinese company that was operating illicit betting & loan applications in India. For “lax due diligence” & “non-reporting of suspicious transactions,” the agency had previously cited online payment gateways including Paytm, Razorpay, & Cashfree.
No malfeasance was admitted by any of the payment processors, which included at least two that denied responsibility.
