Gain Bitcoin Scam Case: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intensified their investigations into the alleged Bitcoin Ponzi scam involving Gaurav Mehta on Wednesday, following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) explosive claims against Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leaders. The BJP alleged that cryptocurrency was being misused to influence the Maharashtra Assembly elections, which concluded voting on Wednesday.
The BJP on Tuesday shared purported voice notes claiming that Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole and Baramati MP Supriya Sule of the NCP (SP) were involved in plans to encash Bitcoin to fund election campaigns. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asserted, “It is clear that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has seen the writing on the wall that it will be defeated in the polls.” Both Patole and Sule vehemently denied the allegations, terming the voice notes as “fake.” Sule stated she had filed complaints with the Election Commission and the cybercrime department and stressed that she does not know Gaurav Mehta.
Meanwhile, Patole also dismissed the allegations saying, “The voice in the clip being circulated is not mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognises my voice.”
Gaurav Mehta, an audit company employee, has become the focus of investigations. The ED conducted searches at his Raipur residence, questioned him, and seized computers and digital devices, news agency PTI reported. The agency widened its probe into a crypto-based Ponzi scam and is examining connections between Mehta and politicians, bureaucrats, and politically exposed persons.
The CBI on Wednesday summoned Gaurav Mehta to appear before it as soon as possible in connection with the Rs 6,600-crore Gain Bitcoin ponzi scam case, PTI reported officials as saying. The CBI swung into action hours after the ED launched raids at the Mehta’s residence in Chhattisgarh.
According to India Today, the CBI named – alleged masterminds in the case Amit Bharadwaj and Ajay Bharadwaj – in its FIR. Amit had died of a heart attack while Ajay is a absconding.
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Gain Bitcoin Scam Case
The ED claimed the scam’s mastermind, Amit Bhardwaj, and his associates deceived investors by promising exorbitant returns through Bitcoin mining. The ill-gotten funds were allegedly hidden in obscure online wallets. In April, the ED attached assets worth Rs 98 crore belonging to actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra, as part of this investigation. The Bombay High Court later provided relief to the couple.
The agency alleged that Kundra received 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj for setting up a mining farm in Ukraine, funded by proceeds of the Ponzi scheme. Three individuals, Simpy Bhardwaj, Nitin Gaur, and Nikhil Mahajan, were arrested last year. The main accused, Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj, remain absconding, while the ED has attached properties worth Rs 69 crore and filed two chargesheets in the case.
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Former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, arrested in a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case, alleged that Gaurav Mehta provided him 10 voice notes via Signal, implicating Supriya Sule, Nana Patole, and senior police officers, PTI reported. Patil claimed that Supriya Sule, in three voice notes, directed Mehta to encash Bitcoins for election funds, assuring protection against inquiries if they came to power. Patil, in his complaint sent to the Election Commission via email, alleged that hundreds of Bitcoins worth billions of rupees were pumped into the Assembly and previous Lok Sabha elections.
It also appears that Mehta currently possesses misappropriated Bitcoins, amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees, Patil stated in the complaint, as per PTI.
The Supreme Court transferred all cases related to Variable Tech Pvt Ltd, the company at the centre of the scam, to the CBI in December last year. The CBI is now examining the alleged role of Mehta and others in the ₹6,600 crore scam, which promised investors a 10% monthly return in Bitcoins.