Crypto currency fraud gang busted

Madhya Pradesh Police have busted an international gang that duped thousands of gullible victims to the tune of Rs 50 crore in the business of banned cryptocurrency.

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Madhya Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested kingpin of the gang, Brajesh Raikwar, and his wife Seema from Jabalpur, where he had come from Dubai to meet his in-laws.

The STF sources said that the gang has connections in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand.

Significantly, most of its members are diploma holders and air conditioner technicians. They are suspected to have invested money in the Mumbai film industry too.

STF director general Purushottam Sharma told reporters that the gang had set up a bogus company, Plus Golden Union Coin, in the faked website of the Hong Kong share market with a server in Jaipur. The website attracted many gullible investors to invest in the cryptocurrency.

One of the duped investors, who is from Bhopal, realised the fraud when he applied for the sale of the cryptocurrency, which he had invested in the bogus Hong Kong share market.

Failing to get a response to his application, the victim complained to the police.

On his complaint, the police started an investigation and detected transaction worth Rs 3 crore from the bank accounts of the accused.

Prime accused, Raikwar, used to operate the racket from New Delhi with his wife and other accomplices.

They would entice potential investors to invest in cryptocurrency by claiming to double their investment.

Sharma said that during the investigation, the STF learnt that the Hong Kong-based company was into cryptocurrency transaction. Brajesh and one Rupesh Rai were the company’s promoters in India

The accused had a software readied in Bengaluru to set up a company and were assisted by a Hong Kong resident called Kevin.