New Delhi. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided the premises of Gaurav Mehta in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur in a Bitcoin-related case amid the election atmosphere in Maharashtra. This action has been taken as part of an investigation related to money laundering. According to sources, the ED is investigating against Mehta and other suspects who are alleged to have collected huge sums of money in the form of Bitcoin from investors and falsely promised them 10 percent monthly returns.
Huge Bitcoin scam, fraud of Rs 6,600 crore
This case is related to the 2017 scam in which a fraud of Rs 6,600 crore was committed. The allegation is that Mehta and his associates collected funds in the form of Bitcoin from gullible investors and promised them high returns. These cases are related to several police FIRs registered in Maharashtra and Delhi.
Bitcoin manipulation mastermind Amit Bhardwaj
The main accused in this scam was Amit Bhardwaj, who defrauded hundreds of investors in the name of investing in Bitcoin. The accused had promised them 10 percent return every month. During this case, the name of Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra was also linked, who had acquired 285 bitcoins in the name of bitcoin mining in Ukraine, which was worth around Rs 150 crore at that time.
Serious allegations against Supriya Sule and Nana Patole
In this case, BJP has accused NCP leader Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole of using the Bitcoin scam money for election funding. According to sources, in a recording Sule’s voice alleges that he contacted Gaurav Mehta to use Bitcoin for the elections. However, Supriya Sule has denied these allegations.
ED investigation and arrest
In this case, ED had arrested Gaurav Mehta, Shimpi Bhardwaj, Nitin Gaur and Nikhil Mahajan. Former IPS and cyber expert Ravindra Nath was also involved in the investigation, who alleged that he was falsely accused and sent to jail. He revealed that when Amit Bhardwaj was arrested in 2018, he was accused of altering a cryptocurrency wallet which according to him did not contain money in the wallet.
Use of Bitcoin in election funding
The former IPS officer also alleged that the money received from Bitcoin was used for funding during the assembly elections in Maharashtra. In this connection, he claimed that he has voice notes sent by Gaurav Mehta, in which he is asking Supriya Sule to redeem Bitcoin, so that election funds can be arranged.
