The Kerala state government has issued an order handing over the Highrich MLM Fraud case investigation to the CBI. The action is based on the recommendation of the DGP.
Currently, the investigation is being carried out by the financial investigation wing of the crime branch. The Directorate of Enforcement is also investigating the case. The Home Department estimates that a fraud of 750 crores has taken place.
In the meantime, the directors had sought anticipatory bail from the court, but the court directed them to appear before the investigating officers. Subsequently, they informed the court of their intention to appear at the ED office on the 19th. The ED has uncovered that the owners of Highrich company fraudulently acquired Rs 1157 crore through a money chain scheme. According to ED’s findings, they introduced a currency called HR Coin, amassing Rs 1138 crore from investors.
The ED further revealed that Highrich facilitated one of the largest black money transactions in recent history. This information came to light following a raid at the residence of Highrich’s owners, during which it was discovered that Rs 1157 crore had been illicitly obtained through five companies.
Additionally, they conducted multi-crore black money transactions using cryptocurrency, with Rs 212 crore spread across 50 bank accounts under the guise of five companies, all of which have now been frozen by the ED.
There are also suspicions that the funds collected were smuggled overseas. Prathapan and his wife Sreena were involved in dealings with investors through Highrich coupons. The ED found that the owners of Hyrich, who had collected more than one thousand six hundred crore rupees from various people under the guise of multilevel marketing business, also transacted in the name of OTT platform.
During interrogation, Pratapan and his wife Sreena stated that they bought this platform released by the owners under the name of Highrich OTT from Vijesh Pillai.
The ED is also probing how many crores of rupees were paid to Vijesh Pillai. Swapna Swapna Suresh has alleged that Vijesh Pillai approached and offered 30 crores to settle the case of gold smuggling and the police are investigating the incident. Investigation is also going on against the same Vijesh in the Highrich case
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