Maharashtra bitcoin scam: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a case against Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj - accused in the Bitcoin Sam case. The development comes a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged National Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and state Congress chief Nana Patole's involvement in a cryptocurrency fraud. The allegations created a huge political outrage in the poll-bound state, prompting Sule to file a complaint with the Elections Commission of India (ECI).
The CBI also summoned Sarathi Associates firm employee Gaurav Mehta (who was also named as a key witness in the case). The CBI summons comes hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at Mehta's residence in Chhattisgarh's Raipur.
The central probe agency asked him to join the investigation, however, no response has come from Gaurav Mehta yet.
CBI has registered a criminal case in the Bitcoin Investment Scheme. The general public was cheated in the scam. Today, along with ED, CBI also conducted raids in the case.
The matter took centerstage after former IPS officer from Pune Ravindranath Patil made an allegation against Sule and Patole over their alleged role in misappropriately using bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to fund the ongoing Maharashtra Assembly Elections.
It also appears that Mehta is currently having custody of the misappropriated Bitcoins, amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees, Patil said in the complaint.
The ED's money laundering probe in the crypto-ponzi case stems from FIRs of Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against a company named Variable Tech Pvt Ltd; individuals named (late) Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj; and a number of multi-level marketing agents who are alleged to have collected huge amounts of funds in the form of Bitcoins (worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) from the public with the "false promise" of 10 per cent per month return in the form of Bitcoins.
The agency arrested three people -- Simpy Bhardwaj, Nitin Gaur and Nikhil Mahajan -- in the case last year. The main accused Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj are absconding, the ED said, adding that it attached properties worth Rs 69 crore in the case earlier.
Two chargesheets have been filed in the case till now -- the first in June 2019 and the second in February this year.
