OneCoin affiliates looking to promote the Ponzi scheme in India held a recruitment seminar in Navi, Mumbai last Sunday.

Unbeknownst to them, plain-clothes Mumbai police officers were in attendance.

According to the officers in attendance, the scammers running the presentation boasted of local OneCoin affiliates earning between ₹500,000 and ₹1,000,000 INR ($7760 and $15,520 USD).

The average current net income in Mumbai is about ₹50,639 INR a month ($785 USD).

Video footage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also used to promote OneCoin, although the footage itself only pertained to “digital transactions” in general.

After listening OneCoin scammers solicit ₹11,900 INR investments on the promise of a ROI in 2018 (OneCoin is accepting new investment but withdrawals are frozen), police had heard enough.

All eighteen organizers of the “Ponzi scheme seminar” were arrested on the spot.

We attended the seminar in civil clothes and heard the whole presentation.

This particular company has no registration with the RBI nor does it have any licence for running such financial schemes promising high returns.

Hence we arrested the 18 people who had organised the seminar and are investigating the case to trace the master mind,” said Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, adding, this scam is being run by the accused in Navi Mumbai, Thane and other parts of Maharashtra.

Mumbai police can naturally only go as far as top Indian OneCoin investors. If more arrests follow though, that could significantly put a dent in new investment.

As per the scheme, the investor has to purchase one coin for ₹11,900 and when the rate of the Crypto currency rises, the rate of the coin also goes high.

“The coins were virtual coins and when the rates of the coins go up, one can sell those coins to another person and earn cash, and the chain goes on,” said Mr. Nagrale.

The Navi Mumbai police made the participants understand how the scheme was fraudulent.

At the time of publication Alexa cite India as the largest source of traffic to the OneCoin website. India is also the third largest source to the OneLife website.