Two men, including an MBA graduate, has been arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch for conning thousands of people into investing in a virtual crypto currency.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Alok Kumar said, “Two persons — Ashish Malik and Sandeep Kaushik — have been arrested. One of the other accused is still absconding. They used to cheat thousands of people to crores of rupees by asking them to invest in a crypto currency. The currency was sold on the name of a Russian-based oil firm. The accused had created a website www.rhfcoin.net.”
Sleuths of the Cyber Cell had received the first complaint four months back, where an East Delhi based businessman stated that the accused persons took Rs 7,50,000 from him by luring him to invest in Rosneft Hedge Fund which was advertised by the directors to be the part of Russia-based Oil Company Rosneft, for handsome profits.
Talking about the modus operandi used by the accused, a senior officer of the Cyber Cell told The Pioneer, “The accused adopted the multi-level marketing strategy where they came in contact with the victims through mutual friends. For selling the idea, the immediate contact earned a 14 per cent profit while the main accused managed to earn 8 per cent profit. They had started the website last year and through this scheme, they had managed to con thousands of people. The accused received money in the form of Bitcoins, cash or cheque.
“They initially lured the victims to invest in Rosneft Hedge Fund and thereafter they converted the amount invested in the Rosneft Hedge Fund into RHF Coin and RHF Gold without the consent of investors. The accused persons also lured people for investing into newly launched virtual Crypto currency RHF Coin. The said coins were initially launched with the price rate of Rs 3.50 per coin but it was found out that these coins hold zero value,” said Alok Kumar, Joint CP (Crime).
While Ashish and Sandeep belong to Delhi, the third accused, Sunil Singh Chauhan, a native of Barnala in Punjab, introduced himself as the owner of the Rosneft Hedge Fund.
A team led by Inspector Sandeep Malhotra traced the accused after four months and caught Ashish and Sandeep from Dwarka Sector 18 and formally arrested last week. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they arranged the victims through two agents.
“In order to lure the investors the accused persons conducted lavish promotional functions and seminars at various prominent hotels located in Delhi, Indore, Russia, Pattaya (Thailand) and Dubai etc.
Police said that apart from a complaint from Delhi and two complaints from Haryana, police found that several FIRs have been registered against these men at Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh,” said the senior officer.