Pune Police books BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani in multi crore cryptocurrency fraud

New Delhi, August 18

The Pune Police have launched a probe into a multi-crore cryptocurrency fraud and booked the founder of BitConnect, Satish Kumbhani.

Satish Kumbhani has earlier been indicted in a US court for orchestrating an international Ponzi scheme worth US$ 2.4 billion and is now being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A Pune-based lawyer filed a complaint with the cybercell of Pune Police that he lost close to 220 bitcoins equivalent to over Rs 42 crore through cryptocurrency investment platforms. 

According to the police, the complainant was defrauded of his original investment of 54 bitcoins and returns of 166 bitcoins. The transactions took place between 2016 and June 2021. 

A press statement on February 25 on Kumbhani’s indictment from the Department of Justice, US government, stated, “A federal grand jury in San Diego returned an indictment today charging the founder of BitConnect with orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme. BitConnect is an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform that reached a peak market capitalisation of $3.4 billion.”

 “According to court documents, Satish Kumbhani…the founder of BitConnect, misled investors about BitConnect’s ‘Lending Program’. Under this programme, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators touted BitConnect’s purported proprietary technology, known as the ‘BitConnect Trading Bot’ and ‘Volatility Software’, as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets. As alleged in the indictment, however, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme…”

The Pune cybercell has initiated an investigation into the case. The cybercell stated that there are more persons who have faced losses in this case.