MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has temporarily restrained the adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) from confirming the attachment of properties of Russian national Pavel Aleksandrovich Prozorov, the alleged mastermind of the OctaFX trading scam.
HC halts attachment of properties of Pavel Prozorov in OctaFX case
According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), OctaFX had systematically conned Indian investors of around ₹1,875 crore between July 2022 and April 2023 by falsely promising high returns through its forex-trading platform. The ED has until now provisionally attached properties worth ₹2,681 crore, including crypto currency worth ₹2,385 crore, purportedly belonging to Pavel.
A division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh Patil passed the order on December 22, in response to Pavel’s petition filed through his power of attorney holder Raviraja Kanyadi. The bench restrained the adjudicating authority under the PMLA from passing any orders confirming the attachment of his properties till January 19, when his petition comes up for further hearing.
Sources in the investigating agency said Pavel has been arrested in Spain for his alleged involvement in cyber fraud across multiple jurisdictions.
The ED had initiated its money-laundering probe on the basis of a case registered in December 2021 by the Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune, against several individuals for defrauding investors through the OctaFX forex-trading platform. The accused allegedly had tempted gullible investors by claiming they would get 2x returns in five months and 3x returns in eight months if they invested in forex trading through OctaFX.
The ED’s probe revealed that OctaFX presented itself to unsuspecting investors as an online trading platform for currency, commodities, and cryptocurrency, without having the requisite permissions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It operated through a distributed global network, designed to evade regulatory scrutiny and launder illicit funds across jurisdictions, and its marketing activities were handled by entities in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), while certain entities and persons located in Spain hosted servers and back-office operations, the ED found.
The OctaFX platform gained traction through aggressive promotions, including sponsorship of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team, and engaging various production agencies for influencer marketing, according to the ED’s charge sheets.
“The ED’s investigation revealed that OctaFX systematically duped Indian investors of approximately ₹1,875 crore between July 2022 and April 2023, generating profits of around ₹800 crore. Considering the company’s operations from 2019 to 2024, total profits from India are estimated to exceed ₹5,000 crore, much of which has been illicitly transferred overseas,” the ED said on October 17, 2025.
In October 2025, the ED said it had provisionally attached cryptocurrency worth ₹2,385 crore lying in wallets allegedly owned by Pavel. Till the Russian national was arrested by the police in Spain, the agency had attached assets worth over ₹2,681 crore, including 19 immovable properties and a luxury yacht named Cherry in Spain, allegedly owned by Pavel.
Reacting to the ED’s attachments in October 2025, OctaFX’s spokesperson had denied all allegations, saying, “We strongly refute any allegations of money laundering, promises of quick riches and high returns, and trading manipulations. The global broker Octa is operating in accordance with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it is registered and conducts business. As a global broker, Octa is neither involved in nor has any information about Pavel Prozorov’s affairs.”