Indian authorities arrested Sailesh Pandey on October 21st, a figure alleged to be a key money launderer for the IX Global Ponzi scheme. Pandey, along with his brothers Arvind and Rohit, stands accused of laundering over $9 million in funds stolen from victims. Their arrests followed an investigation stemming from a suspicious activity report filed by Canara Bank.
Canara Bank initiated the report in August after two accounts were opened under the name TP Global Effects. The stated purpose for these accounts was a food grain business. By the first week of September, however, the bank observed a surge of financial transactions through these accounts, quickly exceeding $9 million USD. Canara Bank grew suspicious when one of the companies involved in these large transfers appeared on the Reserve Bank of India's internal blacklist.
The Reserve Bank of India has since confirmed that IX Global and its associated shell companies used for money laundering are on an official "alert list." This designation signals to financial institutions and the public that these entities operate without proper regulatory authorization, particularly for offering securities. A warrant for Sailesh Pandey and his brothers was issued in mid-October.
Kolkata police's Anti-Bank Fraud team had been investigating the operation. By October 20th, their findings suggested Pandey had laundered as much as $25 million for IX Global. Prabhat Khabar reported on October 21st that police apprehended Sailesh Kumar Pandey, 49, along with his brothers Arvind Kumar Pandey, 35, and Rohit Pandey, 29, in Rourkela, Odisha. The brothers had fled to Rourkela after learning of the warrant.
Following their interrogation, a fourth individual, Prasenjit Das, was arrested in Gujarat. Das is accused of opening several bank accounts that the Pandey brothers then used to process and conceal IX Global funds.
IX Global launched in 2021, operating as a Ponzi scheme disguised behind an online education platform. The company charges monthly fees for access to its materials, while soliciting investments with promises of monthly returns ranging from 5% to 20%. Co-founders Joe Martinez, a US national, serves as CEO. Anita Davis and Helen Boyle, both from the UK, hold the COO and CCO positions, respectively.
A promotional article from BusinessForHome suggested IX Global defrauded consumers out of $22 million in 2021. The same publication later claimed IX Global took in $11 million in February 2022 alone. By October 3rd, BusinessForHome reported the scheme had defrauded consumers out of $100 million. Ted Nuyten, BusinessForHome's owner, has not disclosed any financial relationship between his publication and IX Global.
Recent data from SimilarWeb shows India accounts for 80% of IX Global's website traffic, though this figure dropped 30% month-on-month. Traffic from the US stands at 10%, experiencing a 600% increase over the same period. IX Global is not registered to offer securities in either India or the United States. It remains unclear whether US authorities have launched their own investigation into the company.