STATE MOOTS SIT TO PROBE CRYPTOCURRENCY FRAUD

Minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar on Tuesday said that a special investigative team (SIT) will be formed to investigate all cases related to cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin. The SIT will be headed by an official of the rank of additional director-general of police.

Kesarkar made the statement while replying to a Calling Attention motion tabled by the leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Dhananjay Munde, and 16 other members.
“The SIT will take over investigations currently being done by various units of the state police. It has been asked to complete the process of attaching the properties of companies that have cheated investors in the name of cryptocurrency within three months,” he said.

Several cases of Bitcoin frauds have been registered in cities like Thane, Pune, Kolhapur and Nanded among others. It is estimated that investors from the state were cheated to the tune of around Rs. 2,000 crore in cryptocurrency trade. The most common method of cheating was offering high return under the multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme.

Cryptocurrency is not recognised as legal tender in India, although 200 other countries use it to varying degrees. There are over 100 kinds of cryptocurrencies in circulation, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Cardano; Bitcoin being the most popular. In April this year, the RBI asked all the regulated entities, including banks, to not provide services to any individual or businesses dealing in digital currencies. However, it also said it is keen on floating its own cryptocurrency.