Rs 1000 Crore Crypto Ponzi Scam: Odisha Court Rejects Bail Plea STA India Head Gurtej Singh

Bhubaneswar: The designated Court under OPID (Odisha Protection of Investor’s Deposits), Cuttack has rejected the bail plea of Gurtej Singh, India Head of STA Crypto Token.

Singh was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha police in August, last year in connection with a fraud involving crores of rupees. The bail applications of other co-accused Nirod Das and Ratnakar Pallai have also been rejected by the court, EOW said in a release on Monday.

Singh was arrested for his alleged involvement in fake STA crypto tokens, illegal money circulation and financial fraud. Investigation found that the company and its officials gained crores of rupees in illegal way by duping investors to invest their money in STA token under the guise of crypto currency but in reality it is an online illegal ponzi scheme which is prohibited by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

There were illegal monetary transactions to the account of the accused petitioner Gurtej Singh and also to the account of his relatives which prima facie establish receipt of ill-gotten money from STA illegal Ponzi scheme, the EOW release said.

STA (Solar Techno Alliance) was launched in September 2021. In its website and social media accounts it claims to be a one-stop solar technologies service that enables users to order anything they like from the nearest farmers in the shortest amount of time using blockchain technology.

During the inquiry, it was found that STA through some upline members are very active in these districts and they have been using various propaganda tools to persuade people to join in this scheme and earn huge money in a very short time.

It was found that members have started using the STA token as a legal tender in their day-to-day business. It is estimated that more than 10000 people from Odisha have already been members of this scheme. This scheme has more than 2 lakh members in India including states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Assam, the release added.