More than 900 investors were allegedly duped of Rs.1200 Cr. in a Ponzi scheme run by a Kerala based company. They had invested in “initial coin offering” of a fake cryptocurrency – the Morris coin. It was listed in a Coimbatore-based cryptocurrency exchange called Franc Exchange as an ico offering. The investors were promised a daily return of INR 270 rupees for 300 days, subject to a minimum deposit of INR 15,000, which would be invested into Morris Coin.
In 2020, Nishad, the prime accused, behind the Morris coin scam was arrested by Kerala police, as reported by CoinCrunch India.
Nishad belongs to Pookkottumpadam village in Malappuram district.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took the case into their hands after several cases were reported to Kerala police.
Over the past few days, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out searches in 11 places including Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
ED sources reported that the investors fell prey to the fake scheme during the lockdown in 2020.
Three related Bengaluru-based enterprises – Long Reach Global, Long Reach Technologies (of which Nishad is the managing director) and Morris Trading Solutions were behind the whole plot and all the premises linked to them were raided.
Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan’s company was also investigated adhering to the deposition of large sums of money by Nishad to the actor’s account. ED officials suspected the actor’s link with Nishad.
Explaining the deposited sum actor quoted
“I am not aware of the allegations raised against Nishad. The money was deposited in my account as an advance payment for a film,” Umnni Mukundan said
Nishad fled the country as soon as he got bail from the high court.
For now, we wait until more parameters of the case are revealed by the ED. To stay updated on what happens next and for more crypto updates subscribe to CoinCrunch India and follow us on our social media handles.