Police authorities in the southern Indian city of Bangalore have arrested four people who were tied to a cryptocurrency ponzi scheme that operated through an app dubbed ShareHash.
According to local reports, the suspects arrested were Sheetal Bastawad from Belagavi, taxi driver Imran Riyaz from Gurappana Palya, motorcycle mechanic Rehamatulla Khan and scrap merchant Zabiulla Khan.
Indian Authorities Seize $2M in Crypto Fraud
The Bangalore City Police’s crime branch is still in search of two directors of ShareHash identified as Jimmy and Stacy.
According to Kamal Pant, commissioner of police, Bengaluru City, the group launched a cryptocurrency dubbed Helium Crypto Token (Crypto Miner-HNT) and conducted their activities using the ShareHash app while promising investors high returns.
“Accused promised a daily return of Rs 29 for Rs 3000 invested and Rs 49 for Rs 5000 investment. [. . .] In the same time, the accused made another offer saying an individual can start his or her own cryptocurrency business and demanded Rs 42000 for providing the needed materials,” Kamal Pant said.
Authorities have confiscated $1.9 million from the group after tracing 44 bank accounts. Other items discovered and seized by the police include 1.6Kg of gold ornaments, more than $100,000 in cash, five company seals, mobile phones, laptops, and 44 Digital Signature Certificate tokens.
Bad Actors Using Crypto
In recent times, bad actors have continued to take advantage of cryptocurrencies to defraud unsuspecting investors.
Earlier this month, Indian authorities recovered about $286,000 worth of crypto used in drug trafficking across the country.
Another report revealed that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently confisticated $34 million worth of cryptocurrencies traced to illicit operations on the dark web.
Meanwhile, China’s Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security believes that criminals in the country mostly use Tether (USDT) to launder their proceeds.
Source: https://coinfomania.com/police-arrest-four-in-india-for-crypto-fraud-confiscate-2-million/#utm_source=rss&%23038;utm_medium=rss&%23038;utm_campaign=police-arrest-four-in-india-for-crypto-fraud-confiscate-2-million