India "Cherry" Picks a Luxury Yacht in Probe Against Octa

In the investigation against OctaFX, India’s Enforcement Directorate has attached a luxury yacht, two houses, and other assets in Spain worth around $15.3 million. According to the agency, these assets belong to Pavel Prozorov, “the mastermind behind the platform OctaFX.”

The luxury yacht, named Cherry, is an Italian-built commercial vessel cruising in the Western Mediterranean. The other attached items include a minijet boat and a luxury car.

Indian Agency Targets Octa-Linked Assets

The attachment order from the Enforcement Directorate, which handles financial crime investigations in India, prevents the sale, gifting, mortgaging, or transfer of the listed assets. The owner may keep and use the assets while the investigation is ongoing.

However, in the event of a seizure, the authorities take control of the property, and the owner immediately loses access.

“We would like to point out that the global broker Octa is in no way affiliated with Mr Pavel Prozorov,” an Octa representative told FinanceMagnates.com.

The Enforcement Directorate has seized and attached assets worth US$34.5 million linked to Octa, including 19 properties in Spain under Prozorov’s ownership.

The agency further stated that it had filed two prosecution complaints against OctaFX and 54 other individuals.

“None of Octa's current management is facing any legal issues,” the Octa representative added. “The company has no connection to any properties seized by the Spanish authorities and has not received any notice from local law enforcement. Additionally, Octa does not offer services in Spain, as stated in its Customer Agreement.”

Related: OctaFX Calls Allegations by India “Unsubstantiated” as Authorities Seize $9.6M

US$93.4 Million in Nine Months

OctaFX’s troubles in India began when several individuals filed a police complaint in the city of Pune, alleging fraud and false promises of high returns. According to Indian authorities, Octa generated about US$93.4 million from Indian operations over nine months, which has been classified as “proceeds of crime.” The broker brand even sponsored one of the popular cricket teams in India's domestic league.

“Funds taken from investors were moved out of India under the pretence of importing services, to firms controlled by Pavel Prozorov—the mastermind behind OctaFX—across Spain, Estonia, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK,” the Enforcement Directorate said in a press release last week.

Read more: Singapore to Block Access to Octa and XM for Unlicensed Operations

The agency also alleged that Octa moved investor funds through accounts held by fake e-commerce firms, with dummy directors and manipulated KYCs, while posing as legitimate merchants to access payment gateways.

“Funds were routed through unauthorised payment aggregators and escrow accounts to create layers that hid ownership and the purpose of the transactions,” the Directorate added. It also accused the broker of “intentionally changing login URLs and web addresses to keep its activities hidden from investors.”

Octa has strongly denied all the claims made by Indian authorities. “We, the global broker Octa, strongly reject any allegations about false promises of high returns, money laundering, or knowingly putting traders at risk,” the company representative said.

“As with many global brokers, we use various payment systems to support transactions. However, we do not control these systems. Payment gateway URLs are generated by service providers under their own technical systems. On our end, we direct clients to official and verified pages that follow strict checks and industry standards.”