"Paytm shares drop 9% following reports of ED investigation into crypto scam."
Shares of One97 Communication, the parent company of Paytm, fell as much as 9% to an intraday low of Rs 773.90 following news that the Enforcement Directorate of India (ED) is investigating Paytm in connection with a cryptocurrency scam. The ED is also examining several payment apps, including Razorpay, PayU, Easebuzz, and five other payment gateways.
As reported by the Economic Times, the ED has frozen approximately Rs 500 crore in virtual accounts related to these payment apps over the past two years, as part of an investigation into a scam involving ten Chinese nationals and the HPZ Token cryptocurrency. The accused are charged to have collected over Rs 2,200 crore from investors across 20 states and transferred part of the ‘proceeds of crime’ out of India.
A part of these funds was frozen with the payment gateways before being sent to the beneficiaries.
During this process of making the extent amount of payments, the amounts remained with the payment gateways for a day or two, during which the ED froze around Rs 500 crore. Of the total Rs 497 crore that was frozen in the virtual accounts of various payment gateways, PayU had the largest share, with Rs 130 crore related to the alleged HPZ Token scam.
While, the other amounts included Rs 33.4 crore with Easebuzz, Rs 18 crore with Razorpay, Rs 10.6 crore with CashFree, and Rs 2.8 crore with Paytm. The scammers have established companies in at least 20 states across India and attracted investors by offering opportunities to invest in cryptocurrency mining, including Bitcoin, through the HPZ Token mobile app.
"Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes only and not endorsed by Binance. Crypto investments are volatile and can lead to losses. Do your own research. Not financial advice."
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