Gang selling fake crypto currency busted, 1 held
THE KASHHCOINS WERE LAUNCHED AT THE PRICE OF ₹3.50 PER COIN, WITH PROMISE OF
VERY HIGH PROFIT
NEW DELHI: Police on Thursday claimed to have busted an interstate gang of conmen who had allegedly duped hundreds of victims to the tune of ₹50 crore by luring them to invest in crypto currency.
A 32-year-old Sonipat resident, Narender alias Sonu Dahiya, who ran the operations of the gang has been arrested. Police are on the lookout for Dahiya’s associates. Police said the gang had spread their operations across India and also to some parts of Nepal. They even held conferences and programmes in different cities to lure investors. Videos of such seminars, featuring local actors, have also been uploaded on Youtube.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar said Dahiya and his friends initially lured their friends to i nvest i n ‘Kashhcoin’. They reportedly told their victims that Kashhcoin is an Indian version of Bitcoin. After getting their friends to invest in the fictitious scheme, they then asked their friends to invite more investors.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime), Bhisham Singh said, “Bitcoin has a technology that enables it to be used globally for digital payments. Kashhcoins, on the other hand, does not exist in the first place. The gang had no asset or technology. Also, as per the guidelines of RBI virtual currencies (crypto currencies) are not legal .”
Police said the gang was operating from Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP and Mumbai. “The gang collected money by initially making people from their peer group invest in Kashhcoin. They provided the promised returns initially. To take the chain beyond the peer group, they held semi- nars in different places such as Nepal, Mumbai, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Raipur and Nagpur,” said Singh.
The coins were launched at the price of ₹3.50 per coin, with a promise of high profit. A website they created showed the value of such coins appreciating.
Police said that a Delhi based businessman filed a complaint three months ago after which they uncovered the racket. The trader alleged that he was cheated to the tune of ₹14 lakh by a gang, who lured him to invest in a newly launched crypto currency Kashhcoin.
“As we investigated, we found more complaints against Kashhcoin. We conducted raids at Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and finally traced Dahiya. He was arrested from Rithala,” said Singh.
Dahiya reportedly told police that a self-styled god man and some regional actors had also promoted the cryptocurrency in the seminars. The police said these claims were being verified.