A year-long probe by Pune police’s Cyber crime cell is unraveling how two cyber experts, including an ex-IPS officer, allegedly siphoned off huge sums of cryptocurrency from the wallets of the accused arrested in a multimillion dollar bitcoin ponzi scheme in 2018, for which they assisted Pune Police. The latest probe also raises key questions including that of the oversight or possible involvement of police officials at the time.
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A Special Investigation Team (SIT) from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Pune Police investigated two of the several offences linked to a cryptocurrency ponzi scheme registered in the country in 2018. Among a total of 17 persons arrested by the Pune Police were mastermind brothers Amit and Vivek Bharadwaj. The brothers, through their multiple companies, allegedly cheated thousands of people across India by promising high returns on cryptocurrency investments. Amit was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2019 and is said to have died of an illness earlier this year. At one point in time, the amount linked to cases against him and his accomplices was pegged at 87,000 bitcoins.
Amit and his accomplices were booked in multiple cases by police across India and also faced money laundering charges brought by the Enforcement Directorate. Two of these pan-India cases were registered with Pune City police. Cyber crime experts Pankaj Ghode (38)…
