Indian law enforcement has issued an Interpol Silver Notice and is also coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol to locate the assets of Pavel Prozorov, who is allegedly “the mastermind behind the OctaFX platform.”
Locating the Foreign Assets
According to a report by Hindustan Times, Spanish authorities provided information on eleven properties and four cars linked to Prozorov, while Estonian authorities shared details of three companies and residential addresses related to the case.
An Interpol Silver Notice allows a member country to request others to share information about alleged criminal assets to assist investigations in foreign jurisdictions.
“As a global broker, Octa is neither involved in nor has any information about Pavel Prozorov’s affairs,” a representative of the global Octa brand told Finance Magnates. “Any suggestion to the contrary would be purely speculative.”
“The global broker Octa is not involved in any legal proceedings in India.”
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India’s Action against Octa
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which handles financial crimes in India, earlier confirmed that it attached assets, including immovable properties and a luxury yacht, totalling 2,681 crore rupees ($304.7 million).
The attachment order, which is not a seizure of assets, prevents the sale, gifting, mortgaging, or transfer of the listed assets. The owner may keep and use the assets while the investigation is ongoing.
According to the ED, OctaFX “systematically duped Indian investors” out of about 1,875 crore rupees (over $213 million) between July 2022 and April 2023, generating profits of around 800 crore rupees (about $91 million).
As the company operated in the country from 2019 until 2024, authorities estimate that its profits from India exceeded 5,000 crore rupees ($568.1 million).
The Indian agency compared OctaFX to a “typical Ponzi scheme” and stated that the entity transferred much of its gains overseas.
OctaFX allegedly laundered its Indian gains using “unauthorised payment aggregators” to entities controlled by Prozorov across several countries, the ED alleged. A portion of the funds was later brought back into India as foreign direct investment, according to the agency.
“We strongly refute any allegations of money laundering, promises of quick riches and high returns, and trading manipulations,” the Octa representative said.
“The global broker Octa operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it is registered and conducts business. Octa follows international industry standards and market practices across all its activities, including the implementation of KYC and AML compliance programmes.”
Meanwhile, the Indian unit settled with the local financial regulator by paying $37,000 over its alleged links with the global forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) trading platform. The entity also surrendered its local licence. The global Octa brand earlier denied any operational link with the Indian entity.
