Bhubaneswar: The Court of Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID), Cuttack rejected the bail plea of two prominent top leaders of the Solar Techno Alliance ( STA) crypto-ponzi scam.
As per the record, the Economic Offences Wing, Bhubaneswar had arrested these two accused named Nirod Kumar Das, Odisha Head of STA and Ratnakar Palai of Bhubaneswar on 6-8-2023 &, 15-08-2023 respectively in EOW P.S Case No. 22 dated 28.07.2023 U/s 420 / 467 / 468 / 471 / 120-B IPC read with 4, 5 & 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (PCMCS) ( Banning Act ) and Sec 6 of OPID Act.
According to available information, the principal accused Gurtej Singh Sindhu, country head of STA is still in Judicial Custody.
Also, police found that Nirod Kumar Das had used his referral link to add 21000 downline members under him. On scrutiny of his three accounts, it was confirmed that Rs 31.23 crore and a cash deposit of Rs 2.10 crore were transacted in the relevant period. He had also rented a posh office in the By Pass Chak of Bhadrak to run STA where regular meetings were conducted to induce innocent persons to be his down-line members.
The other accused Ratnakar Palai has invested more than 60 lakhs of the ill-gotten money in purchasing plots in Bhubaneswar. After scanning his accounts maintained in several Banks at Talcher and Bhubaneswar, it was found that a total transaction of 1.3 crores of Rupees has taken place in the above-mentioned accounts in the relevant period. He has also been promoting STA tokens through his YouTube channel ‘Learn 2 Earn with Ratnakar Palai.’
Further investigation of the case is underway.
