The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its clampdown on cryptocurrency-related fraud, making a pivotal arrest in a ₹500 crore multi-level marketing scam and simultaneously filing charges in a separate $20 million Coinbase spoofing case.
MLM Scam Arrest and Layering Network Exposed
The ED formally arrested Masoom Juneja under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 16, 2026, following searches at his premises in Shimla. Investigators recovered digital evidence, un-archived hard drives, and financial ledgers that detailed a sophisticated money-laundering conduit. The underlying Ponzi scheme, led by fugitive Subhash Sharma, defrauded over 248,000 investors through a cryptocurrency MLM operated via fake domains like korvio.io and voscrow.com. Launched in 2018, the scheme promised guaranteed returns on Korvio Coin (KRO) and manipulated token values on private interfaces. When initial coins faced liquidity issues, operators minted new tokens to sustain payouts, ultimately siphoning over $219 million in transactions and causing losses of at least ₹500 crore. Masoom Juneja and his associate Vijay Kumar Juneja acted as financial cleanup agents, absorbing cash through nominee accounts and routing it into major banks such as Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Bank. The illicit capital was then integrated into real estate, including undervalued property purchases and commercial projects like Juneja Square.
$20 Million Coinbase Spoofing Prosecution
In a parallel action, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against Chirag Tomar and seven others for a scheme that used counterfeit Coinbase websites to steal over $20 million in cryptocurrency. Domains imitating Coinbase and Coinbase Pro were used to collect login credentials, after which perpetrators transferred victims’ funds to controlled wallets. Chirag Tomar, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in the United States and received a 60-month sentence, was central to the operation. Indian investigators traced the stolen crypto through multiple wallets and peer-to-peer transactions, eventually converting it into Indian currency that was used to acquire properties and other assets. The ED attached assets worth approximately INR 64.55 crore ($6.83 million) linked to the crime proceeds. The complaint names Pankaj Tomar, Kushagra Shakya, Akash Vaish, Rahul Anand, Ketan Luthra, and corporate entities Tomar Group of Industries and Exahomes Realtors.
These enforcement actions underscore the ED’s growing focus on dismantling transnational crypto laundering networks and safeguarding investor interests under the PMLA.
