According to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) of 2018, a special court in Dimapur, Nagaland, named Bhupesh Arora a fugitive and named him the “kingpin” of the Rs. 2,200 crore cryptocurrency scam involving the HPZ Token. The Enforcement Directorate said Thursday that Arora, a native of Delhi, is believed to have escaped to Dubai. In a case that was initially brought by the cybercrime police station in Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, and then turned over to the ED, the court issued its ruling on Wednesday.
The ED has already attached and frozen Rs. 497.20 crores of the Rs. 2,200 crores in proceeds of crime that have been discovered thus far. The investigation agency can now seize all of Arora’s assets thanks to the court’s declaration. In addition to 286 bank and virtual accounts totaling Rs. 459.79 crores spread across 20 states—including Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana—the ED has also attached nine real estate assets in Delhi that Arora owns and are valued at Rs. 2.05 crores.
In order to provide an untraceable layer for money laundering, the ED further disclosed that Arora had formed more than 200 businesses, including private limited companies, either in his own name or under the names of his close friends and family members. Arora was summoned under section 50(2) of the PMLA, 2002, and on September 25, 2023, the Gauhati High Court, Kohima bench, issued another summons notice, but Arora did not show up, according to the ED. In July 2024, the court issued a non-bailable warrant.
