Bollywood Actor Govinda to be Questioned In Rs 1,000 Cr Online Ponzi scam

The Odisha Economic Offences Wing (EOW), on September 13, said that they will question the Bollywood actor Govinda in relation to a large probe into an online Ponzi scheme involving Rs 1,000 crore across India.

According to the investigators, the scam involved Solar Techno Alliance (STA-Token), which had a global web presence. By pretending to be a cryptocurrency investment company, the company allegedly ran an illegal online Ponzi scheme.

EOW officials will question Bollywood celebrity Govinda in order to learn more about the company's practices, which he reportedly endorsed in promotional videos.

According to TOI, the EOW Inspector General J. N. Pankaj stated, "We will soon send a team to Mumbai to question film star Govinda who had attended STA's grand function in Goa in July and promoted the company in some videos."
He made it clear that Govinda is "neither a suspect nor an accused" at this time. Only after a comprehensive examination will it be possible to pinpoint his precise role in the crime. He might be treated as a witness in the lawsuit if it can be proven that his involvement was restricted to just celebrity endorsement.

The company collected Rs 30 crore from 10,000 people in Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, and Bhubaneswar. Other than that, the company also collected money from investors in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh. Individuals were encouraged to invest and recruit additional investors through the company's network chain, with incentives based on the quantity of recruiters.

Gurtej Singh Sidhu and Nirod Das, the company's respective leaders in India and Odisha, were detained by the EOW on August 7 and 8, respectively. Ratnakar Palai, an investment adviser from Bhubaneswar, was detained on August 16 as a result of his connection to Sidhu, and lookout circulars were issued against the company's Hungarian-born leader David Gez.