The Enforcement Directorate has filed its third supplementary prosecution complaint against Tushar Patel and five others in connection with TP Global FX/IX Global forex trading scam, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A special court (PMLA), Kolkata, took cognisance of the complaint on January 31 and issued non-bailable warrants against the accused, who are currently absconding.
According to an official, “Tushar Patel is the mastermind of the TP Global Forex trading scam, which illegally collected an amount of more than Rs. 2,000 crore from the public in the name of forex trading. The amount was collected in dummy bank accounts opened with the assistance of his associates like Prasenjit Das and Shailesh Pandey. Patel was summoned 7 times during the investigation; however, he failed to comply with the summons and continues to remain absconding.”
The total amount of seized/frozen/attached assets in the case is approximately Rs. 291 crores, in the form of cash, gold, real estate, hospitality establishments, office spaces, agricultural land, vehicles, cryptocurrencies, and bank balances.
The ED initiated an investigation, based on the FIRs registered under various sections of IPC, 1860, by Kolkata, Maharashtra, and Gujarat Police against M/s T M Traders, M/s K K Traders, TP Global FX, IX Global, IX Academy Pvt. Ltd and others.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also warned the public about TP Global FX, stating it is not registered with the central bank and it also does not have any authorization from RBI for forex trading. It had earlier issued an alert list featuring TP Global FX in September 2022, warning the public about unauthorised trading platforms.
According to the investigation, Das and Patel used numerous dummy companies to lure investors/general public into a fraudulent scheme promising high returns on forex trading investments through TP Global FX.
Additionally, the directors and promoters/influencers of IX Global, namely Viraj Suhas Patil and Joseph Martinez, and others, actively promoted TP Global FX as their preferred brokers.
Members and users of IX Global invested through the online platform of TP Global FX for their forex trading activities.
Multiple FIRs have been registered across the country, against TP Global FX/ IX Global/ IX Academy Pvt. Ltd./ different influencers/ promoters of IX Global viz. Tushar Patel, Joseph Martinez, Viraj Suhas Patil etc. for luring general public in the guise of providing higher return on the invested money for forex trading at the platform of TP Global FX/ IX Global.
Earlier, the ED had arrested Shailesh Kumar Pandey, Prasenjit Das, and Viraj Suhas Patil in the case.