ED gets nod to seek Spain’s help in ₹5,000-crore OctaFX probe

Special judge D.D. Kurulkar allowed the agency’s plea for issuance of a Letter of Request (LoR) to the competent Spanish authority after noting that properties, records, documents and other evidence relevant to the probe were located there

MUMBAI: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Monday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to seek assistance from Spanish authorities in enforcing attachment of overseas assets and gathering evidence in the alleged ₹5,000-crore OctaFX money laundering probe.

ED gets nod to seek Spain’s help in ₹5,000-crore OctaFX probe

Special judge D.D. Kurulkar allowed the agency’s plea for issuance of a Letter of Request (LoR) to the competent Spanish authority after noting that properties, records, documents and other evidence relevant to the probe were located there.

The court observed that assistance from Spanish authorities was necessary to execute attachment orders and gather evidence, holding that the ED’s request “deserves to be allowed”.

According to the ED, Russian national Pavel Aleksandrovich Prozorov conceived, controlled and supervised the operations of the OctaFX Group from Barcelona.

The agency alleged that Spanish companies, including Amber Soluciones and Mercats City SL, played a significant role in the functioning of the network, while key digital infrastructure, financial records and other evidence are also located there.

It further alleged that several movable and immovable assets in Spain were beneficially owned or controlled by Prozorov and entities linked to him, making them liable for attachment as proceeds of crime.

The court noted that the ED has already provisionally attached assets in Spain through three separate orders. These include 19 immovable properties worth around ₹41.73 crore, three movable and two immovable properties valued at about ₹131.45 crore, and cryptocurrency worth nearly USD 270.7 million presently under the control of Spain’s Guardia Civil.

The ED sought the LoR to facilitate enforcement of these attachment orders and obtain access to records and evidence required for the investigation.

According to the ED’s prosecution complaint, the OctaFX platform allegedly lured investors through unauthorised online forex trading and routed the proceeds abroad through dummy entities, mule accounts and unauthorised payment aggregators linked to entities controlled by Prozorov.

The ED has alleged that the network generated profits exceeding ₹5,000 crore from its India operations between 2019 and 2024, with a substantial portion transferred abroad. The case is pending before the special PMLA court.