Mastermind of ₹2,500 Crore Crypto Scam Arrested in Kolkata, Brought to Shimla

Mastermind of ₹2,500 Crore Crypto Scam Arrested in Kolkata, Brought to Shimla

The Himachal Pradesh Police has apprehended a key figure in a massive cryptocurrency scam that defrauded over one lakh people in the state, amounting to a staggering ₹2,500 crore. Milan Garg, a 35-year-old resident of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Wednesday night at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata as he attempted to flee to Bangkok, Thailand. Garg, who had previously absconded to Dubai after the scam came to light in 2022, returned to India in June and was making another attempt to leave the country when he was detained by immigration officials at the Kolkata airport.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Northern Range, Abhishek Dhullar, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, confirmed Garg’s arrest and stated that he was brought to Shimla for further investigation. Garg, the main associate of the scam’s mastermind Subhash Sharma, who remains at large and is believed to be hiding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was actively involved in designing the fraudulent cryptocurrency, developing the software, and marketing the scheme to potential investors. The cryptocurrency scam, which began in 2018 but came to light in 2022 after the perpetrators threatened investors to keep silent or risk losing their money, has duped thousands of people. The scam came to light when investors realized they were not receiving the promised returns, prompting hundreds of victims to come forward and expose the fraudsters’ modus operandi.

Over 300 complaints have been filed in this regard, and the police have arrested 26 people and filed charge sheets against 70 suspects so far. Some of the key accused arrested include Hemraj and Sukhdev from Mandi district, and Arun Guleria and Abhishekh from Una district of Himachal Pradesh[1]. The scammers lured investors by promising high returns in a short period and created a network of over 2.5 lakh fake IDs on various websites, where they manipulated and inflated the prices of the cryptocurrencies they had created, such as ‘Korvio Coin’ or KRO coins.

The accused used a combination of misinformation, deception, and threats to maintain control over the scheme, causing massive financial losses to the victims[1]. Interestingly, over a thousand police personnel have also fallen victim to the fraud, with some making significant gains by recruiting more investors and even opting for voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) to become promoters of the scam.

The SIT’s investigations have revealed that the kingpin, Subhash Sharma, and other key accused invested in plots, flats, and luxury items in Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Haryana, while also engaging in tax evasion. The police are working to bring Sharma back from the UAE and continue their efforts to uncover the full extent of this complex and devastating cryptocurrency scam that has shaken the state of Himachal Pradesh.

#CryptoScam #HimachalPradeshPolice #MilanGarg #SubhashSharma This is web generated news feed