Indian enforcement authorities have seized cryptocurrency worth $190 million (Rs 1,646) in connection with the BitConnect investigation.
According to an Indian Express report, Ahmedabad's Enforcement Bureau (ED) – Law enforcement agencies responsible for investigating economic crimes, and financial fraud conducted searches across Gujarat on February 11th and 15th.
ED has also seized $16,300 (Rs 13,50,500) on cash, SUVs and various digital devices.
The investigation falls under the prevention of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following the first case registered by the CID Crime Police Station in Surat.
BitConnect has promised up to 40% of investors
According to Ed officials, BitConnect was operated worldwide between November 2016 and January 2018 and is aimed at investors around the world, including India. Unorganized organizations have created an extensive network of promoters who received fees to introduce new investors.
The BitConnect Ponzi scheme, introduced in 2016, has resulted in investors being tricked into acquiring BitConnect coins and promised a monthly return of up to 40% through the “Volatility Software Trading Bot.”
The platform is said to have displayed “fictional” returns on the web portal. This claims a return of about 1% daily, equivalent to 3,700% per year.
However, like other Ponzi schemes, BitConnect paid investor operators will use the funds sought by new investors to return them. During the two years of execution, the scheme raised $2.4 billion from casualties around the world, and both the scheme and token collapsed after US state regulators issued suspension and assumption orders.
However, investigators called claim fraud as fraud as BitConnect decoupled investor funds to digital wallets managed by the accused in lieu of transactions.
The ED research found a complex web of cryptocurrency transactions. Many were done via the dark web to hide its origin. Despite these challenges, authorities have successfully traced several web wallets and found digital devices containing cryptocurrency through terrestrial information.
The attack will be added to the previous ED action of the incident, including attachments of assets worth $56.5 million (Rs 489 crores). Sources show that foreigners were also among Bitconnect's investors, with US federal authorities investigating “major defendants.”
