Highlights
- Delhi and 5 locations were raided by officers of the ED till late on Wednesday
- Law firm associated with the ongoing bitcoin fraud case is still under investigation
- Wednesday raid as a result of the accused neglecting the orders of the Supreme Court
On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate raided India’s Capital, Delhi, and five other states in the bitcoin fraud case. About 80,000 investors were alleged to have been defrauded of Rs 20,000 crore worth of Bitcoin. Investigations by the ED are still ongoing as electronic devices, documents, and important evidence were recovered during Wednesday evening’s raid.
A senior official in the investigating agency informed the public about the ongoing investigations. The investigations are related to the case of brothers Ajay Bhardwaj and Amit Bhardwaj and other accused. Although Amit Bhardwaj is late, the ED is still investigating others that have been accused, including Sehrawat and Sanchit Alag.
In 2014, Amit Bhardwaj launched India’s first online crypto retail marketplace. Prior to the launch, cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, weren’t traded in India. However, Amit Bhardwaj used his platform to dupe many people for their money.
Read about India’s Crypto law here
Amit Bhardwaj launched a new Bitcoin known as Mcap and scammed many people. Amit Bhardwaj’s mining operations could be done from Hong Kong (GB Miners) and China (Gain Bitcoin).
Several lawyers and officers linked to a law firm (name withheld) based in Delhi were not spared in the raid by the Enforcement Directorate. The ED is yet to reveal to the public the law firm’s name due to the ongoing investigations. However, some documents that are important to the ongoing case were discovered during the raid of the law firm.
Find insight about Indian and IMF crypto here
The Accused Neglected the Supreme Court’s Orders
The raid by the ED was carried out because the accused neglected the directions of the Supreme Court. During the hearing of the bitcoin fraud case in the Supreme Court, the accused was directed to disclose the password and username of the account used in defrauding people. The Court directed that the accused share the account information with the Enforcement Directorate investigators as almost 80,000 were defrauded.
