Odisha EOW Cracks Another Online Ponzi Scam ‘CloudFlut’; Balasore District Head Arrested

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested a man for allegedly duping investor to the tune of crores of rupees by luring them to invest money through a digital app, ‘CloudFut’.

The accused has been identified as Nilesh Kar, the Balasore head of the fake chit fund company.

According to EoW sources, Kar was nabbed from Angargadia Bikasnagar in Balasore on Thursday on basis of a complaint lodged by Mahamanya Jena of Sahadebkhunta, who did not get the assured returns after investing Rs 2.50 lakh in the company between January and March. “When he was to get Rs.50,57,117 on his invested amount, as shown in the wallet of ‘Cloud-Fut’, suddenly the website stopped functioning and the informant could not withdraw the amount,” the release said.

He is being brought to Bhubaneswar on four-day remand after being produced in a court in Balasore.

Kar showed the fake authorization letter from RBI and also the appointment letter of ‘Cloud-Fut’ as district leader to gain the trust of the people. He was also promoting it through various means. He duped at least 200 investors in the district, it added.

Modus Operandi

1. The ‘Cloud-Fut’ is an online app/ linked based company running a huge Ponzi/ MLM scheme fraudulently claiming to be a crypto mining company.

2. It claimed itself to be a USA based company headed by some Richard Purcell. A video was also shown to investors in which this person (Richard Purcell) is promoting the “Cloud Fut” in English with American accent.

3. It claimed and also produced fake certificates of RBI to gain the trust of investors. It was claimed that Government of India has made a 10 years agreement with the company.

4. It lured more than 80,000 investors across the country with a promise of multiplying their money in a very short period.

5. For introducing new members it also offered huge bonus/commission. The policies started as low as from Rs 665 to lakhs. Initially investors used to get some returns but at the end the app/website closed.

6. It was mainly running through Telegram Channel and Whatsapp groups.

7. ‘Cloud-Fut’ has got all India ramification and has cheated lakh of persons Pan-India in the name of Crypto Mining. It is actually running the online Ponzi scam in the name of Crypto Mining.

The EoW said that further investigation is on to trace the mastermind and top bosses of this scam.