New Delhi . The Supreme Court, hearing a plea by Gain Bitcoin scam accused Ajay Bhardwaj, on Monday ordered him to share the username and password of his crypto wallet with the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the ED, told a division bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant that the matter was not related to the legality of cryptocurrencies but a Ponzi scheme.
During the hearing of the matter on February 25, the division bench had orally asked Bhati to clarify his stand on the legality of cryptocurrencies.
Bhati also opposed the interim defense given in arresting the petitioner. The ED urged the Supreme Court to direct the scam accused to share username and password.
To this, the bench said that if the petitioner wants to continue with the interim defense, he should share the username and password of the cryptocurrency wallet with the ED.
The bench also asked Aishwarya Bhati to submit the status report of the matter in the next hearing.
The ED told the Supreme Court that the petitioner’s brother has died and as such he has the username and password, which needs to be disclosed to the investigating officers.
The counsel for the petitioner told the Bench that the entire seizure was made by the Pune Police and hence all the material is with him. The bench asked the petitioner to respond to the cancellation of bail application within two weeks and cooperate with the ED’s investigation.
This whole matter is related to 80,000 bitcoins worth about 20 thousand crores. Ajay Bhardwaj’s brother Amit Bhardwaj started GainBitcoin with a multi-level marketing idea.
Amit Bhardwaj deceived people that as much as they invest in bitcoin, they will be given a return on it at the rate of ten percent per month for 18 months. Amit Bhardwaj had promised to give this return in bitcoin only.
When investors started not getting returns, they started raising this matter on social media etc. Amit Bhardwaj then talked about giving them returns in the form of mcap but this cryptocurrency was of no use. This cryptocurrency was not listed anywhere. It was listed on the Bharadwaj brothers’ own exchange mCap Exchange and C-Sex. This exchange was also not giving an opportunity to convert mcap to bitcoin.
Amit Bhardwaj died in January this year.
The ED has told the Supreme Court that Ajay Bhardwaj’s statement is contradictory and he is not cooperating in the investigation. He is trying to steer the investigation in the wrong direction and is hiding important information.
Citing these reasons, the ED has demanded the Supreme Court to interrogate the petitioner by taking him into custody. The ED says that the petitioner has the necessary information to proceed with the investigation.
—AnyTV News
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