India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at at least six premises, investigating a money laundering case linked to the cryptocurrency scam Emollient Coin. According to local reports, the investigation marks the first-ever search in the union territory of Ladakh and parts of the states, including Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.
According to officials, the investigation found that more than 2,500 investors deposited more than $876,43 thousand in a cryptocurrency scam. However, the company named “Emollient Coin Limited” did not return any money. Instead, the accused, named AR Mir , used the funds to purchase real estate in Jammu before dissolving the company.
The case stems from an FIR (first information report) registered in March 2020 in Leh. The FIR followed several other complaints against two accused individuals named Mir and Ajay Kumar Choudhary.
Emolient was founded in 2017, is headquartered in London, and is headed by Henry Maxwell.
After numerous complaints, a committee appointed by a local district judge investigated Emolient Coin promoter Mir and his agents. During the investigation, the committee sealed the office, claiming that they were “defrauding many innocent people by assuring them of doubling their investment.”
According to the company’s description on Tracxn, the startup’s data platform, Emolient Coin provides a decentralized blockchain for storage. It offers its native coin based on the Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism used to buy and rent storage space.
ED officials said Friday that the defendants persuaded people to invest in “Emollient Coin” using cash or bank transfers. They later deceived depositors with promises of returns of up to 40%, with a lock-up period of 10 months.
In addition, Emollient Coin offered investors a commission of up to 7% of their investment for referrals, creating multi-level marketing.
India is already suffering from the recent massive hack of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, which siphoned off $234 million. The exchange was said to have turned to former partner Binance for help in rescuing affected customers.
