The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized its largest-ever cryptocurrency haul, valued at Rs 646 crore, as part of a large-scale money laundering investigation into a fraudulent investment scheme that duped numerous depositors under the guise of securities investment, official sources said.
The federal agency’s Ahmedabad office also seized Rs 3.50 lakh in cash, an SUV, and multiple digital devices following fresh searches conducted on Saturday. The case involves the alleged fraudulent and unregistered sale of securities through the ‘BitConnect lending program.’
The ED’s probe, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), originates from an FIR filed by the Surat Police crime branch. The fraud allegedly took place between November 2016 and January 2018, following demonetization. A specialized team of tech experts was deployed to analyze the intricate network of transactions spread across numerous crypto wallets to trace their origins and controllers.
Investigations revealed that several transactions were conducted via the dark web to obscure their traceability. The agency tracked multiple crypto wallets and gathered intelligence to identify the locations where the digital devices containing the cryptocurrencies were stored.
According to sources, cryptocurrencies worth Rs 646 crore were seized and transferred to a special ED crypto wallet, marking the largest-ever seizure of virtual digital assets in an ongoing money laundering probe.
During the investigation, the ED found that BitConnect, an unincorporated entity, built a global network of promoters, rewarding them with commissions for attracting investors. To lure depositors into investing cash and Bitcoin into its lending program, BitConnect falsely claimed to use a proprietary “volatility software trading bot” that could generate returns of up to 40% per month.
The platform displayed fictitious returns on its website, showing an average gain of 1% per day or nearly 3,700% annually, the sources said. However, these claims were fraudulent, as the accused did not actually use investor funds for trading. Instead, they siphoned off the money for personal and associate gains by transferring it to digital wallet addresses under their control.
Previously, the ED had attached assets worth ₹489 crore in this case. Officials also revealed that foreign nationals invested in BitConnect and that the prime accused is under investigation by federal authorities in the United States.
With inputs from PTI
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