The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has frozen demat accounts and bank accounts for Rs 29.5 crore. The probe agency said the move comes after note crackdown in several cities on tracing money linked to the fraud through mobile telephone applications (apps) since Saturday. The action was taken against Token and other such entities based on an app called ‘HP Z’. The agency said searches were conducted in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Bangalore and Salem.
The ED had approached UNESCO in this matter last year as well and had frozen deposits of about Rs 56 crore. The cyber-crime unit of the Kohima Police in Nagaland registered a money laundering case against the company and its associates on the basis of an FIR till October 2021.
The agency said, “HP Z was an app-based token that promised higher profits for ‘effortless’ mining machines for bitcoins and other manipulations.
It was also said that two companies – Lillian Technocab Pvt Ltd and Shigu Technology Pvt Ltd, out of which were involved in pooling money and operating in the name of HPZ.