2 traders paid Rs 7.4 crore to mine bitcoins, duped

NEW DELHI: A probe has been started against master conman Amit Bhardwaj for duping two businessman of Rs 4.4 crore and Rs 3 crore, respectively, on the pretext of selling them Bitcoin mining set-ups. The businessmen were promised 150% returns in lieu of their investment.

Bhardwaj, a resident of Shalimar Bagh, was arrested by Pune Police from IGI airport in April. He is estimated to having duped over 8,000 people of around Rs 2,000 crore. His name had earlier cropped up in the investigation conducted by Cyber Cell when they had busted a cryptocurrency gang run by two men, Kamal Singh and Vijay Kumar, who had duped around 2,500 people.

In a fresh complaint, a victim, who has an export firm at Barakhamba Road, said that Bhardwaj introduced himself as a trader who dealt in gold, diamonds and Bitcoin with expertise in getting good returns on investments. The victim then introduced his father and brother to him.

“To win my confidence, Bhardwaj introduced me to one Rajesh, who he claimed had collaborated with him to acquire a gold

mine

in Guinea, Latin America. He also showed some papers in this regard. After a few meetings, he offered to transfer shares held by them in the mine,” the victim said.

The crooks also produced a forged share-purchase agreement. When the victim showed interest, the accused gave him a “better” offer. Claiming to be experts in Bitcoin mining, the crooks told the victim to invest in it. The victim had no knowledge about cryptocurrency and sought more information. He was told that the virtual currency gave 100-150% returns on investments.

The victim was made to speak to several “clients”, who supposedly got substantial returns. “It later came to the fore that these people were members of the Bhardwaj gang,” an officer said.

When the victim got suspicious, the accused began avoiding his calls and meeting him. The victim then approached police. A case has been filed and cops will seek Bhardwaj’s custody for arresting him in cases pertaining to Delhi.

Bhardwaj ran firms and websites in the name of Variable PTE limited, GB Miners and gainbitcoin.com. Also, his family members and he were directors in firms like Bitex Services, Coinbank, Paybits, Mcap labs and Redox Infotech, which dealt in Bitcoin mining and trading.


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