Indian police busted a $5.4 million crypto fraud operation and detained 11 people in the process. The police in Nagpur detained 11 persons in connection with a crypto scam that garnered $5.4 million during a police raid. The Indian police have detained 11 persons in connection with a high-profile cryptocurrency scam that defrauded investors out of $5.36 million.
According to the Times of India, four people were arrested in Lonavala where gold as well as expensive automobiles worth $134,000, laptops, cell phones, guns, and $25,000 in cash, were seized. Nishid Wasnik and Pragati, husband and wife, Sandesh Lanjewar, and Gajanan Mungune were the four people arrested.
According to local media, seven additional people were arrested in connection with the case the next day. The arrestees were charged under the Indian Penal Code, the Maharashtra Protection of Depositors’ Interest Act, and provisions of the Information Technology Act. Wasnik and his wife, together with Lanjewar, have been on the run for the past year, suspected of defrauding investors in a scam that dates back to 2017, involving investors who were meant to buy ETH using the website ZebPay and transmit it to Wasnik’s website.
According to Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar, the gang protected a benefit for each investor on the website but drained their Ethers to enrich Wasnik and his aides:
“Wasnik and his gang seemed to have transferred huge numbers of Ethers to some other site or monetized them to support his lavish lifestyle.”
In total, authorities identified around 170 investors who lost less than $500,000, but they are also probing other shady digital currency transactions worth over $5.4 million. Madhav Pawar, an accomplice of the group, was kidnapped and shot a year ago, and he was slain for failing to give a password for a key transaction. The gang fled into hiding, but their online actions led to their discovery. The arrest was announced as the Indian government and central bank battled over the legitimacy of cryptocurrency.
While the country’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that crypto income will be taxed at 30% with no exclusions or deductions, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das maintained a harsh stance on the subject. Private crypto, according to Das, is a threat to macroeconomic and financial stability. Despite the regulatory uncertainties, India’s crypto investments increased from $923 million in 2020 to almost $6.6 billion in 2021, creating a fertile ground for scams.