Fraud
CBI seizes cryptocurrency worth Rs 7.7 cr from Indian man accused of conning US citizen
New Delhi: The CBI has confiscated cryptocurrency valued at over $930,000 (approximately Rs 7.7 crore) from an Ahmedabad-based man, who is accused of deceiving a U.S. citizen by impersonating a senior executive from a multinational corporation's fraud department, a report in the media said.
Acting on a tip-off provided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CBI registered a case against Ramavat Shaishav.
He purportedly contacted the American citizen by phone, presenting himself as "James Carlson" from Amazon's fraud department.
Following a search operation, the CBI located 28 Bitcoin, 55 Ethereum, 25,572 Ripple, and 77 USDT in Shaishav's electronic wallet.
These assets were subsequently transferred to the government's wallet upon seizure.
He allegedly convinced the victim that his Amazon account was being illicitly accessed and that his social security information was being used across four different states to create accounts on the e-commerce platform.
"It was also alleged that the accused induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit the same in Bitcoin in the RockitCoin ATM Wallet, and also shared a QR code falsely informing him (the victim) that the same was opened by the US Treasury for him," the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) spokesperson said, according to the report.
The Central investigative team has alleged that Shaishav e-mailed a forged letter, dated September 20, 2022, claiming it was issued by the US' Federal Trade Commission, in order to gain the US citizen’s trust.
"In pursuance of the said inducement, the victim allegedly withdrew an amount of $130,000 from his bank accounts on different dates during the period August 30, 2022, to September 9, 2022, and deposited the same in the Bitcoin address provided by the accused," the official said, it added
"Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused in Ahmedabad which led to the recovery and seizure of cryptocurrencies viz, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc. worth $939,000 (approximately) from the crypto wallets of the accused, and incriminating material," the spokesperson said.
Two associates of Shaishav, who are also located in Ahmedabad, have come under scrutiny.
The CBI conducted searches at their residences, leading to the confiscation of mobile phones, laptops with potentially implicating content and various other digital devices.
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