The Indian police have launched an investigation into Bitconnect and booked its founder after a bitcoin investor reported being defrauded by the global crypto “Ponzi scheme.” According to U.S. authorities, the scheme reached a market capitalization of $3.4 billion at its peak. According to allegations, the founder and his conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 Billion from investors.
Bitconnect’s Founder Wanted by Indian Police
After the U.S. Indicted Bitconnect founder for defrauding investors, the Indian Police in Pune (Maharashtra) is looking to arrest him.
Pune Police began a probe into the crypto-scam that cost multi-crores and arrested Satish Kumhani. A local lawyer filed a FIR on Tuesday. He named six other individuals involved in the scheme. In the FIR, the lawyer claimed that he had been defrauded of close to 220 Bitcoins.
Indian police have not made any arrests but are still searching for them. Investigators are now looking into whether additional investors have been defrauded.
Kumbhani is an Indian citizen and the Federal Bureau of Investigations has already begun investigating him. He was indicted by the U.S. for his involvement in the creation of the fraudulent crypto-sytem. Calling Bitconnect a “global Ponzi scheme,” the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) described:
Bitconnect, a fraudulent cryptocurrency investing platform, reached $3.4 billion in peak market capitalization.
The Justice Department explained that Kumbhani, 36, of Hemal, India, “misled investors” about Bitconnect’s lending program. They claimed that it used proprietary technology, namely the “Bitconnect Trading Bot” and “Volatility Software” to “generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets.” The authority emphasized:
Bitconnect operated as Ponzi Scheme by paying Bitconnect investors in the past with funds from later investors.
“In total, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 billion from investors,” the DOJ added.
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