Mumbai: The ED and CBI on Wednesday stepped up their probe against Bitcoin Ponzi ‘scam’ suspect Gaurav Mehta, a day after BJP made public alleged voting notes claiming that Congress and NCP (SP) leaders were trying to cash in on cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls. The allegations were refuted by NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole, who termed the voice notes released by the BJP on the eve of the elections as fake.
Gaurav Mehta, an employee of an audit firm, was at the center of the action taken by the two federal probe agencies on Wednesday, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducting searches at his residence in Raipur, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issuing summons to him to be present with the investigating officer as soon as possible. The ED interrogated him and recorded his statement during the searches. Some computers and digital devices were also seized.
ED officials said the agency has expanded its ongoing money laundering probe into a Ponzi scam involving crypto assets (Bitcoin) and is probing the “links” of Mehta and some others with politicians, politically exposed persons and bureaucrats. The agency seized assets worth Rs 98 crore of actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra in April as part of this crypto-Ponzi investigation. The couple challenged the ED action and got relief from the Bombay High Court.
It was claimed by the ED that the bitcoins would be used for mining and investors would earn huge returns in crypto assets, but the promoters “cheated” the investors and hid the “ill-gotten” bitcoins in obscure online wallets. Kundra, the ED alleged, received 285 bitcoins from ‘mastermind’ and promoter of Gain Bitcoin Ponzi ‘scam’ Amit Bhardwaj for ‘setting up’ a bitcoin mining company in Ukraine.
These bitcoins come from the ‘proceeds of crime’ collected by Amit Bhardwaj from gullible investors, the report said. 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 had earlier seized properties worth Rs 69 crore in the case.
Two charges have been filed in the case so far: the first in June 2019 and the second in February this year. The BJP on Tuesday played alleged voting notes of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Patole, alleging attempts to cash in bitcoins to influence the elections.
Sharing the audio clips, in which voices and signal chats purportedly of Sule and Patole indicate that bitcoins were being used to fund the poll campaign, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said it is clear that the MVA has seen the writing on the wall that this will to happen. being defeated in the polls.
The allegations were strongly refuted by both leaders, who said the voice recordings were not theirs. Sule said she has filed a complaint with the state election commission and cybercrime department against the false allegations. She told reporters on Wednesday that she “did not know Gaurav Mehta”. Patole also rejected the BJP’s allegations and said, “The voice in the clip being circulated is not mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognizes my voice.” The elections in Maharashtra saw voting for 288 Assembly seats on Wednesday, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a challenge from the NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UT) and the Congress alliance known as Maha Vikas Agadi.
A former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who was arrested in a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case investigated by Pune Police, has also claimed that Mehta had given him ten voice notes on Signal app containing audio clips of Sule, Patole and others. IPS officers Amitabh Gupta (ex-Pune police commissioner) and Bhagyashree Navtake, the DCP (cyber) in Pune when he was arrested.
He had also sent a complaint to the Election Commission alleging that Sule had sent three voice notes to Mehta in which she was reportedly heard requesting the latter to cash in the Bitcoins as money was needed for the elections and assure him that he didn’t have to worry about investigations like As soon as they come to power, they would tackle them.
In his complaint sent to the EC via email, Patil stated that according to the chats he claims to be in his possession, it appears that hundreds of bitcoins worth billions of rupees were stolen in the parliamentary elections and the previous Lok Sabha elections are pumped. . It also appears that Mehta currently has custody of the embezzled bitcoins, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, Patil said in the complaint.
The ED’s money laundering probe in the crypto-Ponzi case stems from FIRs by Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against a company called Variable Tech Pvt Ltd and persons named (late) Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj, among others. A number of multi-level marketing agents are said to have collected huge amounts of money in the form of Bitcoins (worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) from the public with the ‘false promise’ of 10 percent returns per month in the form of Bitcoins.
The Supreme Court in December last year transferred cases registered across the country against Variable Tech Pte Ltd to the CBI. At least ten FIRs were registered by multiple police stations in the country against Variable Tech Pte Ltd, late Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj and others. “During the course of investigation, the CBI is free to club/consolidate any or all of the FIRs. It is further clarified that in case the local police have already filed charges in connection with any of the FIRs, this will not deter the CBI from initiating further investigation and thereafter filing a chargesheet or filing additional chargesheets states, as the case may be,” the apex court had said.
The CBI officials said the case was registered in October this year and the agency was probing all aspects related to Mehta’s alleged involvement in the scam and this could expand the scope of the investigation.
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