Two persons accused in the OneCoin scam have been arrested by the the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Unit-1 team of the Navi Mumbai crime branch. Amit Kedia (32), a Delhi resident, and Nayan Patel (28), a resident of Ahmedabad, were arrested on May 8 and May 12 respectively.
Tushar Doshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), said, “Patel had left the country and we issued a lookout notice to the Airports Authority of India seeking his detention. He had travelled to Hongkong from Dubai and was nabbed at the Mumbai International Airport while trying to re-enter the country.”
The scam was busted in April 23 this year when 18 promoters of the scheme were arrested during a seminar organised by them at an auditorium in Juinagar. Keida and Pael were named as the 19th and 20th accused. Mary Beyance from Mauritius and Ereena Andreva Belkinska from Bulgaria have been named as the main accused.
The EOW hopes to arrest more people as investigations into the the money trail proceeds. Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale has formed a special investigating team, comprising four Assistant Police Inspectors and 15 personnel, under Senior Police Inspector Shivaji Awate.
Mr. Awate said, “The money trail of the one coin scam led us to two accounts named Premium payment solution. One account had ₹19 crore and the other ₹5 crore. Kedia was the director of the first account, but owned just 0.1% of the money. He was made director because as per Indian government’s rules, a foreign investor needs a Indian director as partner while opening a bank account.
“Kedia was not aware of the transaction, but he grew suspicious. He wrote to the bank informing his resignation as the director of the account and requested the bank to freeze the account. After keeping the account under observation for six months, the bank froze the account in February. Unable to make transactions, the main accused based in Mauritius and Bulgaria opened the other account. The ₹5 crore has been seized.”
Later, an accused approached Patel and secured permission to use his account to transact business. Patel was promised a monthly commission. Mr. Awate said, “Patel was unware of where the money was being deposited into his account. But he observed that money was deposited frequently and transferred or withdrawn immediately. Money was not kept in the account for a long period.” The EOW has frozen 35 accounts used to deposit money into the account.
