CBI questions audit company employee in Bitcoin ponzi scheme case

The CBI on Thursday questioned Gaurav Mehta, an audit company employee, in connection with its probe into the Rs 6,600-crore Gain Bitcoin ponzi scam case here, officials said.

The central probe agency, which registered three cases related to the alleged scam in October, had called Mehta to appear before its investigation team as soon as possible after his name cropped up in purported tapes of Maharashtra political leaders discussing the encashment of the cryptocurrency worth crores.

Mehta has been questioned since the afternoon in connection with the case. The officers quizzed him regarding the tapes and documents related to alleged investments in cryptocurrency.

 

The officials said Mehta was also asked if he had shared the voice notes of the political leaders and if so, their details.

The audit company employee is understood to have been asked about his role in the purported bitcoin transactions alleged in the notes, they said.

The Supreme Court handed over to the CBI in December 2023 10 cases related to the alleged Gain Bitcoin ponzi scam registered by police in various states against Variable Tech Pvt Ltd, Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj and others for allegedly collecting Bitcoins worth around Rs 6,600 crore from people through their multi-level-marketing scheme with false promises of 10 per cent monthly return in the form of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoins, a cryptocurrency, are not controlled by any central bank of any country.

The alleged economic fraud took political overtones on the eve of Maharashtra polls when the BJP on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole to Mehta, alleging attempts were being made to encash Bitcoins to influence the elections.

Mehta faced action from the Enforcement Directorate and CBI on Wednesday when the anti-money laundering agency raided his premises in Raipur. The Central Bureau of Investigation summoned him for questioning.

Both the leaders have denied the tapes, terming them fake. They said the tapes were possibly created using deepfake technology and artificial intelligence. Sule told reporters on Wednesday that she "did not know Gaurav Mehta".

Voting in the Maharashtra elections took place on Wednesday for 288 assembly seats. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a tough contest from the NCP(SP)-Shiv Sena (UT)-Congress alliance known as Maha Vikas Agadi, according to exit polls predictions.

A former IPS officer, Ravindranath Patil, who was arrested in a 2018 cryptocurrency "fraud" case being probed by the Pune Police, has also claimed that Mehta had provided him 10 voice notes on the Signal app which had purported audio clips of Sule, Patole and IPS officers Amitabh Gupta (ex-Pune Police commissioner) and Bhagyashree Navtake, who was the DCP (cyber) in Pune.

He had also sent a complaint to the Election Commission, alleging that three voice notes were sent by Sule to Mehta, in which she is purportedly heard asking the latter to encash the Bitcoins as funds were needed for elections and assuring him that he need not worry about inquiries as once they come to power, they would handle the matter.

In his complaint sent to the EC via email, Patil said that according to the chats he claims to have, it appeared that hundreds of Bitcoins worth billions of rupees might have been pumped in the assembly polls and the previous Lok Sabha election.