₹146 Crore Hashpe Crypto Scam: Cruise Parties, Bollywood Events And Luxury Cars

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two more people in the Hashpe cryptocurrency fraud case, taking the number of accused in custody to four. ED’s Chennai Zonal Office-II detained Syed Usman, also known as Babu, and Dhamodharan Balachandran on September 22 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Both were produced before the Special PMLA Court, which remanded them to three days’ judicial custody, the agency said in a statement dated September 24.

How The Scheme Allegedly Worked

The case stems from an FIR filed by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Puducherry under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

According to ED, Syed Usman, Imran Basha and their associates set up Hashpe and marketed it as a cryptocurrency trading platform. Investors were promised high returns through a token called TCX, which the agency described as a purported cryptocurrency.

To build trust, the accused allegedly relied on:

• A launch event and a car award ceremony featuring Bollywood celebrities
• Referral commissions and social media promotion
• An event on a cruise ship in Mumbai

Where The ₹146 Crore Came From

ED said about ₹146 crore was collected from investors through three channels:

• ₹120 crore in the form of TCX coins
• ₹16 crore in cash
• ₹10.52 crore credited to a bank account held in the name of Hify Circle

Roles Of The Arrested Accused

The agency alleges Syed Usman and Dhamodharan played a central part in acquiring, layering and diverting the proceeds of crime. Usman handled large cash investments and operated the Hify Circle account used to receive investor money. Dhamodharan developed and managed Hashpe’s software, database and crypto operations, including its wallet functions.

Funds Moved Into Property And Crypto

Investigators traced the money to personal bank accounts of the two accused, their family members and linked entities, ED said. Part of it was later invested in cryptocurrency and immovable property.

Material released by the agency also points to spending on cars awarded to selected investors, celebrity appearances, cruise and public events, gold gifts and luxury personal expenses.

Earlier Arrests And Searches

ED searched 11 premises across Chennai, Coimbatore and Kolkata on September 1. Imran Basha and Hitesh Kumar, arrested earlier in the case, remain in judicial custody. The agency said further investigation is under way.