Indian investigators link businessman to 285 Bitcoins in scam proceeds

Indian agency, The Enforcement Directorate, has filed a charge sheet against businessman Raj Kundra, accusing him of having about 285 Bitcoins, which are proceeds of crime. The Bitcoin, worth Rs. 150.47 crore (approximately $18 million), was received from late crypto scam mastermind Amit Bhardwaj, Indian authorities said.

The charge sheet was filed before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court. Indian authorities claimed that Kundra concealed crucial evidence in the case and failed to surrender the digital assets linked to the crime. According to the ED, Kundra remains in possession of the Bitcoin, enjoying the proceeds of crime. The Indian agency also mentioned that he conducted a transaction with his wife, Shilpa Shetty, an actress, at below market rate to obfuscate the funds gotten through criminal activities.

Indian agency files charges against businessman over crime-linked Bitcoin

The money laundering case originates from several FIRs filed by police in the Maharashtra and Delhi regions against Variable Tech Private Limited and several individuals, including Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, and Mahender Bhardwaj. Indian authorities claimed that the promoters promised investors huge gains in return for their investments in a Bitcoin mining program, but instead got cheated.

Authorities claimed that the suspects took the ill-gotten Bitcoin and sent it into obscure online wallets. The Indian agency claimed that Kundra received the said Bitcoin from Amit Bhardwaj for establishing a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. Though the deal failed to materialize, authorities claimed that Kundra allegedly still retained possession of the Bitcoin, failing to remit it so that it could be returned to those who invested in the program.

Thus, it can be safely concluded that the agreement was actually between Raj Kundra and Amit Bhardwaj (his father, Mahender Bhardwaj), and the argument given by Kundra that he acted as a mere mediator is not tenable,” the chargesheet read. The agency also claimed that Kundra’s ability to recall the exact number of Bitcoin received in five different transactions after seven years shows that he was indeed the beneficial party and not that he acted merely as a mediator.

ED accuses Kundra of damaging crucial evidence

According to the agency, since 2018, Kundra has failed to provide the wallet addresses where the 285 Bitcoins were moved into. He attributed this to the damage to his iPhone X shortly after he was apprehended and asked to give his initial statement. However, the ED said it interpreted the act as deliberate, noting that Kundra knowingly destroyed the device as a ploy to hide crucial evidence that was important to their investigations.

The ED also mentioned that Kundra carried out a transaction with his wife, Shilpa Shetty, selling to her far below market rate, a move they claimed was to disguise the origin of the funds obtained through criminal activities. The Indian agency also mentioned that Kundra tried to frustrate their investigations under the PMLA by layering the proceeds of crime and protected the same as untainted. The charge sheet also fingered another businessman, Rajesh Satija, as another accused in the case.

According to authorities, Kundra claimed that he only acted as a mediator in the transaction but failed to provide any documents as evidence to support that claim. Instead, he noted that an agreement titled ‘Term Sheet’ was signed between him and Mahendra Bhardwaj. The ED explained that the Bitcoin was supposed to go into mining operations, with investors promised financial returns in cryptocurrency. However, the promoters allegedly defrauded investors and have been hiding the illegally obtained Bitcoin in different digital wallets.

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