ED raids on Ojasvi Foundation in Surat, unearth Rs 150 crore Hawala scam

Surat: The recent Enforcement Directorate raids at Ojasvi Foundation here in the city has brought to light that an estimated Rs. 150 crore rupees were illicitly sent to a foreign country via the hawala.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out search operations against Ojasvi Foundation, Ojasvi AI, and other “connected persons or entities” earlier this week at 10 locations in Surat as part of an investigation under the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999).

In a statement released on Friday, the central enforcement agency revealed that Ojasvi Foundation, with its registered address in Surat, is engaged in unauthorized (speculative) forex trading on a Dubai-based trading platform named Winsor Fx.

The ED further alleged that a substantial volume of forex trading takes place through the Ojasvi AI platform.

The release stated, “It was found that M/s Ojasvi Foundation has multiple businesses in the form of real estate, restaurants, hotels, yachts, and other AI platforms, etc.”

The ED claimed that Ojasvi Foundation conducts illegal speculative trading in foreign exchange and has enticed over 8,500 individuals to invest in their forex trading scheme under the MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) Scheme for additional benefits. The search operations uncovered that funds exceeding 150 crores rupees were transacted through hawala for the purpose of illegal forex trading abroad, a violation under Section 3 of FEMA, 1999, according to the ED.

During the search operations, the ED reported cash seizures of 1.33 crores rupees, foreign currencies valued at more than 3 lakhs rupees, evidence related to illegal forex transactions (hawala) worth over eight lakh USDT (a digital currency operating on blockchain technology, similar to cryptocurrency), equivalent to approximately 6.7 crores rupees. Various incriminating documents and digital records related to illegal forex transactions were also discovered and seized, the ED noted.