Nagpur: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday ordered a special investigation team (SIT) under the additional director general of the economic offences wing (EOW) to investigate all cases of bitcoin fraud reported from across the state.
The government had issued lookout notices against companies that have been found to be involved in cheating, minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar said in the legislative council during the current monsoon session of the state legislature here.
Kesarkar said the government would seek help from the Enforcement Directorate if the need arose.
Nationalist Congress Party legislator Hemant Takle raised the matter through a calling attention notice.
Later, Kesarkar told Mint that SIT would look at all the reported cases that were at different stages of investigation. The minister said the SIT under the EOW would also attach domestic properties of the bitcoin companies against whom police complaints of cheating have been filed.
“No time frame has been given to the SIT to complete the probe. Each case is at a different stage of investigation and will take its own time,” Kesarkar said.
A written reply issued by the government in the legislative council says that though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not recognized cryptocurrency like bitcoin, it had not termed such cryptocurrencies “illegal” either.
“However, RBI has from time to time issued circulars cautioning the general public against investing in cryptocurrencies and similar notional currencies not issued by RBI,” the reply says.
The issue was raised in reference to the cases of bitcoin fraud unearthed in Kolhapur, Yavatmal, Pune, and Thane, involving three companies. The written reply says a company called Zipcoin Cryptocurrency promised 15% returns on investment in the form of bitcoins and raised deposits from people in and around Kolhapur. The company cheated 17 investors of a total of more than ₹ 2 crore, the government said, adding that six persons have been arrested so far.
Offences have been registered under the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors Act, Prize Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act, and Information Technology Act also as the fraud was committed through online transactions, the government said.
The second case pertains to Gain Bitcoin company, which has been found to have cheated investors of a total of more than ₹ 17 crore in Yavatmal and Pune. The police have made three arrests so far and hunt is on for other accused. In the third case pertaining to Flintstone Technology against whom offences of cheating have been filed in Thane, the police have arrested two persons and recovered an amount of ₹ 1.02 crore from the company from the total fraud of ₹ 1.76 crore, the government told the House.
