Economic Offences Wing arrests man for running ₹144 cr online ponzi scheme

The Economic Offences Wing, Bhubaneswar arrested an accused on March 30 from Pune for running an online ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of people, said an official.

According to the officials of EOW, the accused identified as Vishal Sakharam Utkar, a resident of Latur, Maharashtra was arrested from Mundwa, Pune following a complaint filed by Dibyajyoti Kar, a resident of Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The complainant in his complaint alleged that he got himself added to a WhatsApp group through a person identifying as the Manager of a company namely GETSO which was doing the business of crypto mining.

Dibyajyoti was induced to invest with the company for getting high returns like 6 pc daily on the invested amount apart from daily withdrawal facility. An account was created on the website of GETSO company and through up line referral link. During the period from October 2022 to 24.12.2022, he deposited an amount of Rs.1.27 Lakh with the company. Subsequently, the GETSO WhatsApp group was closed and withdrawal requests were ignored by GETSO.

J. N. Pankaj, Inspector General, EOW Bhubaneswar said "During the investigation, ₹144 crore involved in this scam was traced. The company was running online money circulation via Ponzi schemes on the pretext of crypto mining and operating throughout India. The amount of money invested and the number of investors will go up with the progress of the investigation. Out of the invested amount, ₹9 crore was found to have been transferred to the account of the arrested accused Vishal Sakharam Utkar."

Further explaining the modus operandi IG said that "the accused used to introduce GETSO fraudulently as a Washington, USA-based company on its website/APP. A GETSO APP was also available in Google Play Store with more than 10000 downloads which were showcased as dollar earning APP," said the IG.

The accused was produced before the local Cantonment Court, Pune, and was brought to Bhubaneswar on the strength of transit remand for his production before the OPID Court, Cuttack.