Mumbai: The ED and the CBI on Wednesday ramped up their investigations towards Bitcoin Ponzi ‘rip-off’ suspect Gaurav Mehta, a day after BJP made public purported voice notes to allege that Congress and NCP (SP) leaders have been attempting to encash cryptocurrency to affect Maharashtra meeting polls. The allegations have been refuted by NCP (SP) chief Supriya Sule and Congress chief Nana Patole who termed the voice notes launched by the BJP on the eve of polling as pretend.
Gaurav Mehta, an audit firm worker, was on the centre of the motion taken by the 2 federal probe businesses on Wednesday with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) finishing up searches at his Raipur residence whereas the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued summons to him looking for his presence earlier than the investigation officer as quickly as attainable. The ED questioned him and recorded his assertion throughout the searches. It additionally seized some computer systems and digital units.
ED officers mentioned the company has widened its ongoing cash laundering probe right into a crypto (Bitcoin) belongings ponzi rip-off and is investigating the “hyperlinks” of Mehta and a few others with politicians, politically uncovered individuals and bureaucrats. The company connected belongings price Rs 98 crore of actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra in April as a part of this crypto-ponzi probe. The couple challenged the ED motion and received aid from the Bombay Excessive Court docket.
It was alleged by the ED that the bitcoins have been to be utilised for mining and buyers have been presupposed to get big returns in crypto belongings however the promoters “cheated” the buyers and have been concealing the “ill-gotten” bitcoins in obscure on-line wallets. Kundra, the ED alleged, obtained 285 bitcoins from the “mastermind” and promoter of Achieve Bitcoin Ponzi “rip-off” Amit Bhardwaj for “establishing” a bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine.
These bitcoins have been sourced from the “proceeds of crime” collected by Amit Bhardwaj from gullible buyers, it mentioned. The company arrested three individuals — Simpy Bhardwaj, Nitin Gaur and Nikhil Mahajan — within the case final 12 months. The primary accused Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj are absconding, the ED mentioned, including that it connected properties price Rs 69 crore within the case earlier.
Two chargesheets have been filed within the case until now — the primary in June 2019 and the second in February this 12 months. The BJP on Tuesday performed purported voice notes of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Patole alleging makes an attempt have been being made to encash bitcoins to affect the elections.
Sharing the audio clips, by which voices and sign chats purportedly of Sule and Patole allegedly point out that bitcoins have been used for funding the ballot marketing campaign, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had mentioned it’s clear that the MVA has seen the writing on the wall that will probably be defeated within the polls.
The allegations have been strongly refuted by each leaders who mentioned that the voice recordings weren’t theirs. Sule mentioned she has filed a criticism with the Election Fee and the cybercrime division of the state towards the false allegations. She instructed reporters on Wednesday that she “didn’t know Gaurav Mehta”. Patole additionally dismissed the BJP’s allegations and mentioned, “The voice within the clip being circulated isn’t mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognises my voice.” Voting in Maharashtra elections befell on Wednesday for 288 Meeting seats the place BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is dealing with a problem from NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UT) and Congress alliance often called Maha Vikas Agadi.
A former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who was arrested in a 2018 cryptocurrency “fraud” case being probed by Pune Police, has additionally claimed that Mehta had supplied him 10 voice notes on the Sign app which had purported audio clips of Sule, Patole, and IPS officers Amitabh Gupta (ex-Pune Police commissioner) and Bhagyashree Navtake, who was the DCP (cyber) in Pune when he was arrested.
He had additionally despatched a criticism to the Election Fee alleging three voice notes have been despatched by Sule to Mehta by which she is purportedly heard asking the latter to encash the Bitcoins as funds have been wanted for elections and assuring him that he needn’t fear about inquiries as as soon as they arrive to energy, they’d deal with them.
In his criticism despatched to the EC by way of e mail, Patil said that in accordance with the chats that he claims to be in possession of, it seems that a whole lot of bitcoins price billions of rupees could have been pumped within the meeting polls and the earlier Lok Sabha elections. It additionally seems that Mehta is at present having custody of the misappropriated bitcoins, amounting to a whole lot of crores of rupees, Patil mentioned within the criticism.
The ED’s cash laundering probe within the crypto-ponzi case stems from FIRs of Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police towards an organization named Variable Tech Pvt Ltd and people named (late) Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj, amongst others. A variety of multi-level advertising and marketing brokers are alleged to have collected big quantities of funds within the type of bitcoins (price Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) from the general public with the “false promise” of 10 per cent monthly return within the type of Bitcoins.
The Supreme Court docket handed over instances registered towards Variable Tech Pte Ltd throughout the nation to the CBI in December final 12 months. Not less than 10 FIRs have been registered by a number of police stations within the nation towards Variable Tech Pte Ltd, the late Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj and others. “In the course of the investigation, it shall be open to the CBI to membership/consolidate any a number of of the FIRs. It’s additional clarified that within the occasion that cost sheets have already been filed by the native police in reference to any of the FIRs, this shall not preclude the CBI from conducting additional investigation and thereafter file cost sheets or supplementary cost sheets, because the case could also be,” the apex court docket had mentioned.
The CBI officers mentioned that the case was registered in October this 12 months and the company was wanting into all points associated to the alleged involvement of Mehta within the rip-off and it could increase the scope of investigation.
