The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has apprehended three individuals involved in a cryptocurrency scam that duped more than 2.4 lakh investors, including those in Himachal Pradesh, out of nearly Rs 500 crore by offering lucrative returns. Milan Garg, Sukhdev Thakur, and Abhishek Sharma were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, by the ED’s Shimla Sub-Zonal Office. The ED’s probe stemmed from police FIRs in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab against Subhash Sharma and other key figures implicated in the fraud.
The accused orchestrated various fake investment platforms like Korvio, DGT, Hypenext, and A-Global to entice the public with promises of substantial and guaranteed profits. Investigations by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and under the PMLA unveiled that Subhash Sharma, along with accomplices such as Hem Raj, Milan Garg, Sukhdev Thakur, and Abhishek Sharma, initiated a cryptocurrency-based multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme in 2018. This scheme was executed through an online platform that facilitated controlled operations and attracted a large number of investors.
Milan Garg emerged as a key figure and the technical brains behind the fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes Korvio/Voscrow, Hypenext, and A-Global, as per the ED’s findings. He was responsible for developing and overseeing these platforms, managing cryptocurrency wallets, transferring investor funds, converting cash into cryptocurrencies, and controlling the technical and financial aspects of the illicit operations. Sukhdev Thakur and Abhishek Sharma, early promoters of the Korvio/Voscrow scheme, played crucial roles in convincing investors with false promises of high returns, collecting significant cash amounts, and channeling funds to other co-conspirators.
