$300 million Bitcoin scam: Indian police nab two more in ponzi scheme case

The crime branch police have arrested two more involved in the ponzi Bitcoin scheme that duped thousands of cryptocurrency investors. The duo is said to be close aides of Amit Bhardwaj, the kingpin of the multi-million Bitcoin [BTC] scam. They are accused of marketing the schemes to lure gullible consumers. Pune police arrested Amit Bhardwaj on April 5 from the Delhi airport. He is believed to be the mastermind behind scamming thousands of Indians. He allegedly made a fortune of $300 million (approximately 2,000 crore INR). See also: US SEC clamps down on cryptocurrency airdrops and bounty campaigns “The duo were involved in marketing the scheme. They had lured hundreds of people and then disappear. We are investigating the case and are also finding out the number of people that have been duped,” a police official said.

Who is Amit Bhardwaj?

Amit Bhardwaj is a popular name in the Indian crypto community. He is a well-known Bitcoin evangelist and has worked as a software head with Infosys in the past. He founded a company called the ‘GainBitcoin’ in 2013, which is a software platform for trading and mining bitcoins. See also: Cryptocurrency scams on the rise, warns UK’s financial regulator FCA According to sources, he had duped over 8000 Indian investors and fled the country with cryptocurrency worth in excess of $300 million USD.

Modus operandi

He lured in investors asking them to invest their Bitcoins in exchange for higher returns. He promised them a return of 10 percent every month for a period of 18 months. He also offered to facilitate Bitcoin mining equipment to investors in exchange for the mined bitcoins. However, he never gave the investors their returns, says the Pune police. Bhardwaj has set up a bitcoin mining operations platform in Mumbai in 2013. After four years, the Enforcement Directorate of Mumbai sent a lookout notice against him, which was when he fled the country with all the crypto tokens that he had collected. He was arrested in the Delhi airport along with seven of his subordinates who helped him in planning and executing the scam. The Pune police were reportedly given secret information by the Bangkok police about the whereabouts of Bhardwaj. Image via Shutterstock Join our Telegram group