Early this year, India faced the largest-ever crypto Ponzi scheme, the GainBitcoin scam and this time it has cost its victims over Rs 1 trillion. As per reports, one lakh victims of the detailed pyramid scheme called GainBitcoin lost more than $12.8 billion.
In this case, 40 FIRs have been registered by victims from Maharashtra, Punjab and the other parts of the country. More than 60,000 user IDs and email addresses have been tracked in the fraud until now by the Pune police.
As a part of their scheme, the scammers guaranteed a 10% monthly return in Bitcoin-on-Bitcoin deposits for 18 months through elaborate marketing programs.
Investors were lured to lend Bitcoins to the firm on the false promise that their investments will be increased during this period.
Just like other pyramid schemes, the scam was led by Amit Bhardwaj who operated with the help of his ‘Seven Stars’. The situation got more complicated after Amit Bhardwaj died earlier in 2022 of cardiac arrest. Amit apparently collected 385,000 to 600,000, Bitcoins worth more than Rs 1 trillion.
After Amit’s death, all eyes are on the co-accused and Amit’s brother, Ajay. Recently, the Indian Supreme Court ordered Ajay Bharadwaj to disclose the crypto wallet details to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
