STA Crypto-ponzi scam: Odisha EOW nabs 1 more accused from Bhubaneswar

 After busting one of the biggest scams, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Bhubaneswar on Wednesday claimed to have arrested one more accused in the STA Crypto-ponzi scam.

The accused, Ratnakar Palai (45), was arrested from Bhubaneswar on August 15, 2023. Earlier, the EOW had arrested two key accused- Gurtej Singh Sidhu and Nirod Das-in connection with the scam.

Also Read: Odisha EOW busts ‘biggest Crypto-ponzi scam’ of India; actor Govinda released promotional video, claims agency

Sidhu was arrested from Rajasthan while the Odisha head Nirod was arrested from Bhadrak. As per EOW, the accused Ratnakar Palai is an important and up-line member of STA having huge number of members below him (known as down-line members in the MLM/ Pyramid based schemes/scams).

Palai is very close to Gurtej Singh and Nirod Das. “Palai is an M.Tech in IT from Karnataka University, Bangalore and claims to be an international speaker, entrepreneur and investment guru. He is also propaganda head/ social media influencer of STA in Odisha,” said EOW.

Senior EOW officials informed that Palai used to run a YouTube channel for wider publicity of this scheme. He is member of some other such dubious scams too which is under scrutiny. He also runs an institute namely ‘Learn to earn”.

In STA Crypto-Ponzi scam , OPID Court Cuttack has granted 5 more days remand of both the accused- Gurtej Singh Sidhu and Nirod Das. It is estimated that more than 10000 people from Odisha have already been members of this scheme.

This scheme/scam has more than 2 lakh members (Pan India) mainly in the states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Assam. STA (Solar Techno Alliance) was launched in September 2021, said EOW.