NSEL fraud probe: Mumbai police attach FTIL’S operational accounts

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Wednesday night attached operational accounts of Financial Technologies of India Ltd (FTIL) and also approached the sessions court for putting revenue generated from its trading software ODIN into an escrow account. This is in connection with a ₹5,574.35 crore fraud at National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) in 2013. NSEL is 99.99% owned by FTIL.

Protesting against the move, FTIL, which is now known as 63 Moons Technologies Ltd, in a statement issued on Thursday said freezing the operational accounts of the company will weaken the legal defence of the company and will impact its 1,000 employees and their families.

EOW has attached three accounts of the company and is also proposing to attach the intellectual property rights of ODIN. The revenue generated from clients of ODIN will also be put in an escrow account. These funds will later be disbursed to the investors of NSEL if approved by the special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID Act) court, said a person close to the developments.

According to FTIL, ODIN is currently used by more than 800 clients and there are more than 2.5 million ODIN licenses being used on 500,000 terminals. “It is highly unfortunate that EOWMumbai has frozen the operational account of 63 Moons Technologies Ltd,” said a spokesperson for FTIL.

“This action is barbaric, unethical and motivated and we fail to understand the reason for such a gruesome action against the company when there is no linkage to or proceed of crime and also when each citizen has equal right to fair and impartial investigation,” he added.

The attachment of ODIN, according to FTIL, will affect 1 million jobs in stock exchanges and commodity exchanges and other areas.