Cuttack Court Rejects Bail for 2 STA Crypto-Ponzi Scam Accused

Cuttack: The Court of OPID in Cuttack has denied bail to two senior officials of Solar Techno Alliance (STA), Nirod Kumar Das, the Odisha head of STA, and Ratnakar Palai from Bhubaneswar. These individuals were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Bhubaneswar on charges related to Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B, Section 66-C, and Section 66-D of the IT Act, 2000, along with Section 6 of the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 2011.

The bail petitions for both accused were rejected by the court on September 16 and 23. Notably, the main accused, Gurtej Singh Sindhu, the country head of STA, is currently in judicial custody.

Das, the Odisha head of STA, is accused of recruiting 21,000 downline members using his referral link and accumulating a significant amount of wealth. Bank records show transactions of around Rs 31.23 crore and a cash deposit of Rs 2.10 crore during the relevant period. He also rented an upscale office in Bhadrak for STA business and conducted meetings to attract innocent individuals as down-line members.

Palai, a key member of STA with a substantial down-line, is closely associated with Gurtej Singh and Nirod Das. He holds an MTech in IT from Karnataka University, Bangalore, and claims to be an international speaker, entrepreneur, and investment guru. He served as the propaganda head and social media influencer for STA in Odisha and operated a YouTube channel to promote the scheme.

Palai also participated in various other dubious schemes under scrutiny and ran an institute called ‘Learn to earn.’ After the arrest of Gurtej and Nirod, he deleted his social media accounts and travelled to Goa for an STA celebration.

Investigation revealed that Palai established ‘Learn2 Earn’ academy in Bhubaneswar to advocate for investing in STA tokens. He spent around Rs 1.42 lakh on an event at Hotel Presidency to promote STA tokens.

The accused invested more than Rs 60 lakh of their ill-gotten gains in purchasing plots in Bhubaneswar. Bank records from accounts in Talcher and Bhubaneswar, including one under the name ‘Learn2 Earn,’ indicate total transactions of Rs 1.3 crore during the relevant period.

Palai also promoted STA tokens through his YouTube channel ‘Learn 2 Earn,’ with Rs 3.75 lakh frozen from five of his bank accounts.

The investigation into the STA scam is still ongoing.