New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) The CBI conducted searches across seven states in a Rs 350-crore crypto scam which robbed hundreds of investors of their hard earned money, officials said Friday.
The action follows an FIR registered by the CBI against seven individuals who were allegedly running their ponzi schemes separately in seven states, they said.
They were allegedly running the modules in Delhi, Hazaribag, Bathinda, Ratlam, Valsad, Pudukkottai, and Chittorgarh, taking money from investors and lucrative returns in cryptocurrencies, the CBI said.
“These ponzi schemes were being promoted through multiple social media groups. An analysis of bank account transactions and cryptocurrency wallets has revealed that the illegal proceeds from these schemes were being converted into cryptocurrencies to obscure their origin,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
It is alleged that the accused conducted transactions of more than Rs 350 crore in these schemes in the last two years, officials said.
On Thursday, the agency swooped down on ten locations in Delhi, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan.
During the searches, the CBI seized assets totalling USD 38,414 (approximately) in the cryptocurrency wallets of the accused.
“The searches resulted in the recovery of cash amounting to Rs 34.2 lakh(approx), along with significant digital evidence, including seven mobile phones, one laptop, one tablet, three hard disks, 10 pen drives, memory cards, SIM cards, ATM/debit cards, email accounts, and several incriminating documents,” the statement said.
The agency registered the case under Indian Penal Code Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), read with Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, because it was part of an ongoing investigation that predated the introduction of three new criminal laws last year.
“It was alleged that accused persons, acting in criminal conspiracy, have been actively floating various ponzi and fraudulent schemes, promising high returns based on cryptocurrency investments. They are also accused of promoting, promising, and disseminating false and deceptive information to entice investors into these unregulated deposit schemes, which operate without requisite approvals from regulatory authorities such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” the statement said.
The probe has uncovered multiple bank accounts and Virtual Digital Asset (VDA) wallets held by the accused with several cryptocurrency exchanges, including CoinDCX, WazirX, Zebpay, and BitBns.
“Over two years, these accounts and wallets witnessed transactions exceeding Rs 350 crore. The victims were allegedly defrauded by the accused under various pretences, such as online loans, online lucky orders, UPI frauds, and internet banking scams,” the CBI said.
