E-Paper
Two masterminds of HP multi-crore crypto currency scam held in Gujarat
The accused had allegedly defrauded the people of Palampur of ₹18 crore by luring them with promises of doubling their income by investing in crypto currency
As part of the crackdown against the crypto-currency scams in Himachal Pradesh, two masterminds of a multi-crore crypto currency scam in Palampur have been arrested from Gujarat, police said on Tuesday.
With assistance from the Gujarat Police, the special investigation team (SIT) of the Himachal Pradesh Police arrested Hemraj Rajput and Sukhdev Thakur on Thursday from a farmhouse in Bhojda village in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat, where they were hiding. Both the suspects hail from Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh. They were brought to Himachal Pradesh on Monday.
The accused had allegedly defrauded the people of Palampur of ₹18 crore by luring them with promises of doubling their income by investing in crypto currency.
According to police, Rajput and Thakur were the key architects of this crypto currency scam.
“We are closing on the kingpins of crypto currency scams in HP. We are making all efforts to arrest the accused. We have mapped their assets and are conducting financial investigation into their assets. My advice to people of the state is not to fall prey to the crypto-currency fraudsters. They cheat people with huge returns. The victims are encouraged to come forward to report their cases to the SIT constituted for the purpose,” director general of police Sanjay Kundu said.
Recently, Kundu had constituted an SIT to investigate a series of cases across the state related to crypto currency scams.
The team included DIG Northern Range Abhishek Dullar; SP, cyber crime, chairman SP Rohit Malpani; ASP, cyber crime, Praveen Dhiman; ASP, cyber crime, Mandi, Manmohan Singh, and DSPs from various regions.
The crypto currency fraud in Himachal Pradesh spans over five years, commencing in 2018 during the peak of the crypto frenzy. The fraudsters operated by creating their own crypto currencies, KRO and DGT coins, and lured unsuspecting investors with the promise of high returns within a short time frame, employing a Ponzi-style scheme.
This issue was brought to the attention of the Vidhan Sabha by independent MLA Hoshyar Singh, who estimated the total amount swindled in Kangra and Hamirpur alone to exceed ₹200 crore.
Following Singh’s revelations in the assembly, a dedicated SIT was formed to probe the matter further. The exact magnitude of the fraud is yet to be determined. So far, five individuals have been arrested in connection with the scams, but the alleged kingpin remains at large.
The fraudsters employed a combination of misinformation, deception, and threats to manipulate their scheme and continue extracting money from unwitting investors by manipulating the prices of their coins.
The initial coin they launched, ‘Korvio Coin’ or KRO coins, involved charging buyers an initial activation fee and promising substantial returns. Over their five-year operation, the fraudsters utilised three to four different cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency, a digital form of currency operating on blockchain-based networks without reliance on central authorities such as governments or banks, has gained popularity in recent years but also attracted various fraudulent activities.
