The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Monday unearthed a brand new modus operandi and initiated a cash laundering investigation in opposition to Mohali-based firm, Vuenow, in reference to the “cloud particle rip-off”. The corporate has its company workplace in Mohali’s Ghazipur space of Zirakpur.
As per the preliminary findings of the investigation, it has been discovered that greater than 25,000 buyers throughout India — the vast majority of them from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh — have bought cloud particles from Vuenow Group of Firms and to date the group has acquired roughly Rs 2,200 crore in lieu of sale of such cloud particles to numerous buyers.
Their modus operandi has two levels, the place first buyers are lured and offered cloud particles after which the identical is leased again to the tip customers. The buyers in flip obtain leases at a excessive price. Apparently, no bodily infrastructure similar to the rented cloud particles really exists with the corporate. The buyers are duped over an extended time period and it’s troublesome to hint, because the victims maintain availing excessive periodic leases on their funding in cloud particles, unaware of the truth that no such digital infrastructure really exists.
The ED initiated an investigation primarily based on particular intelligence gathered on two points viz. irregular and unauthorised international remittances by the Vuenow Group corporations and fraudulent diversion of buyers’ cash underneath the guise of renting out companies of knowledge storage.
The ED first initiated an investigation into alleged FEMA violations in reference to irregular international remittances. Through the FEMA investigation, searches have been carried out at 14 areas throughout the nation, leading to seizure of Indian foreign money value Rs 30.50 lakh, 6410 Euros, $3062, 5 Singapore {dollars}, international foreign money value 2750 Swiss Francs, digital gadgets and numerous incriminating paperwork. Considerably, the important thing promoters of the Vuenow Group didn’t be part of the search proceedings. The Vuenow Group was promising unrealistic returns to buyers in lieu of buy of cloud particles (servers). The returns have been as excessive as 40% each year. Nevertheless, to offer the required variety of cloud particles (servers) on sale or hire, they didn’t have the proportionate infrastructure. This was established throughout the bodily verification carried out by the ED throughout the search of their knowledge centres.
So as to lure the general public, Vuenow had arrange lavish places of work the place they used to persuade the buyers to purchase knowledge particles from them by providing profitable returns by numerous schemes, thereby falling into the lure.
The ED had forwarded the data underneath Part 66(2) of PMLA to Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) Police, Uttar Pradesh, who took cognisance of the fraudulent actions and primarily based on the mentioned data registered an FIR underneath Sections 318(4), 61(2) and 316(2) of the BNS,
Accordingly, the Jalandhar ED additionally initiated investigation underneath PMLA and carried out search operations at 5 areas in Punjab and UP, during which numerous paperwork and data have been recovered and seized. Through the search, 67 financial institution accounts of Vuenow Group of Firms and associated entities/people have been frozen underneath the provisions of PMLA, 2002. The Vuenow Group of Firms challenged the ED investigation and freezing of financial institution accounts in Delhi and Punjab & Haryana Excessive Courtroom. On December 9, 2024, after listening to each the events for about one hour, the Delhi Excessive Courtroom refused to grant any interim reduction to the corporate. The ED will nonetheless examine the matter on a number of facets.
