OneCoin IS Much Ponzi: Indian Police Chief Confirms ‘Clear Ponzi Scheme’

Indian police have said OneCoin is a “clear Ponzi scheme” as they prepare to charge original figurehead Ruja Ignatova and others.

In reports relayed by local news source Indian Express, Tushar Doshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, said that so far 23 people were arrested in connection with OneCoin operations in India.

“In this sort of scheme, investors become the perpetrators as well as victims. It is clear that this is a Ponzi scheme,” he told the publication.

Doshi’s comments are the most direct suggestion yet from official sources that OneCoin is a Ponzi scheme, the outfit forcefully denying previous accusations alleging the same.

In April, police arrested participants in a seminar propagating OneCoin to potential investors, with bank accounts coming under suspicion and holdings totaling $5 mln at the time seized.

A total of 35 bank accounts are now under investigation, Indian Express reports, with the total sums involved amounting to 750 mln rupees ($11.6 mln).

Increasing legal scrutiny on OneCoin meanwhile continues to surface from countries around the world, most recently in Vietnam after the company’s purported license to operate in the country appeared to be a forgery.

It remains to be seen to what extent India will implicate Ignatova in its ongoing investigation.