Actress Tamannaah Bhatia summoned by ED over cryptocurrency scam

Actress Tamannaah Bhatia was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Oct 17 over allegations of being linked to 'HPZ Token' — a digital platform accused of defrauding investors by promising huge profits through cryptocurrency mining.

The actress was summoned in Guwahati to testify regarding an investigation concerning the "HPZ Token" smartphone application, wherein multiple investors were purportedly deceived under the guise of mining Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.

The actress was allegedly paid for her "celebrity appearance" at an event hosted by the "HPZ Token" app, which is presently being investigated for possible money laundering.

According to media reports citing sources, Tamannaah has not been the subject of any "incriminating" charges. They said she had been called before as well, but she decided to come on Oct 17 after delaying the summons because of work.

The actress was also questioned previously in Maharashtra in connection with a similar probe, they said.

The charge sheet submitted by the ED in this matter in March names 299 entities as accused, including 76 Chinese-owned firms with 10 directors of Chinese origin and two entities controlled by other foreign persons.

The central probe agency is looking into allegations of money laundering based on an official complaint (FIR) that was made against many individuals connected to the program, alleging that they deceived "gullible" investors with false claims of enormous profits from mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

According to the police, the accused group used the HPZ Token smartphone application to "cheat" investors. To conceal the crime, "shell companies" run by "dummy" directors opened the bank accounts and merchant IDs connected to the app.

The FIR stated that these funds were obtained "fraudulently" for investments in Bitcoin mining as well as unlawful online gambling and gaming.

In its statement, the ED claimed that profits of ₹4000 per day were promised for three months, but they were only paid once in exchange for a ₹57,000 investment. Following the one-time payout, other investors were approached for funding.

The ED conducted nationwide searches that resulted in the confiscation of deposits and real estate valued at ₹455 crore.

The Kohima Police's cybercrimes squad filed a First Information Report (FIR), which is where the money laundering case started. Under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, the FIR had charged several people with misleading investors by guaranteeing large profits from Bitcoin mining and other cryptocurrency endeavors.