MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has preliminarily seized movable properties totalling Rs. 24.41 crore owned by various individual-firm and wielded by money laundering defendant Vinod Khute, the proprietor of the VIPS Group of Companies and Global Affiliate Business organisation situated in Pune. Khute, believed to be in Dubai, is an absconding suspect in the Ponzi scheme and illicit forex trading incident.
The ED contends that the seized properties are constituted by balances in 58 bank accounts totalling Rs 21.27 crore and Rs 3.14 crore deposits.
The ED commenced a probe predicated on an FIR filed by the Bharti Vidyapeeth Police Station, Pune, against Vinod Tukaram Khute, Santosh Khute, Mangesh Khute, Kiran Pitamber Anarase, Ajinkya Badadhe, and others for defrauding the public and devising a nefarious conspiracy.
The offenders allegedly enticed individuals into a Ponzi scheme and forex trading under the guise of high yields, thereby amassing more than Rs 100 crore in the bank accounts of numerous counterfeit/sham establishments/entities/companies.
The ED inquiry unveiled that Vinod Khute, is the brains behind several unlawful ventures, crypto exchanges, wallet services, and forex trading via the Dubai-based company Kana Capital Limited. Vinod Khute established various firms, including VIPSWALLET Pvt. Ltd., Kana Capitals Limited, Global Affiliate Business (GAB), VIPS Securities, and VIPS Properties, among others, to perpetrate illicit monetary operations.
Funds were gathered from investors and channelled through…
