Bitcoin scam: Cid says it’s hunting for Kotadiya

AHMEDABAD: In what police say is a major breakthrough, CID (crime) sleuths investigating the bitcoin extortion case recovered Rs 25 lakh cash from a man called Nanku Lavaria in Rajkot, who is ostensibly a friend of Nalin Kotadiya, the former BJP MLA from Dhari.
CID officials said the money was handed to Lavaria by Naman Kotadiya, Nalin’s nephew. “The money appears to be part of the proceeds of the Shailesh Bhatt kidnapping, which was staged by his ‘friend’ and business partner, Kirit Paladiya. a total of Rs 66 lakh were given to Kotadiya. Rs 35 lakh through angadiya and the remaining amount was allegedly given to Kotadiya by Ketan Patel.” said a CID source.

CID officials say they are hunting for Nalin Kotadiya, who did not appear for questioning despite being served summons twice. “We have information that Kotadiya has left the state. We have roped in Ahmedabad crime branch to track him,” a senior CID official said.

“There is a strong possibility that Kotadiya received part of the proceeds of the kidnapping, which according to our information is about Rs 35 lakh,” said a CID official.

CID crime sources said they tracked down Naman Kotadiya .“He stated that he was asked to give the money to Lavaria and knows nothing else. Lavaria claims to be just the custodian of the cash and says he has no knowledge of the source of the money,” an investigator added. A CID official said they are also looking for one Navneet Kotadiya, a relative of Nalin Kotadiya’s.

“We have information that the money passed through his hands too,” said a CID crime official. Kotadiya’s name surfaced in the statements of persons accused in the bitcoin extortion case. “The accused said Kotadiya was paid a share of the extortion money,” a senior CID official said.

“We also recovered a receipt in the name of Paladiya, who had sent money to Kotadiya from Surat. The rest of the money was delivered to Kotadiya by advocate Ketan Patel, who is an accused in the case and was arrested earlier,” said a CID official. CID officials said a team was dispatched to Rajkot early on Monday where it seized the cash from Lavaria’s house. “We have also tracked the money trail to an angadia firm, P Umesh in Ahmedabad, through which Rs 35 lakh was sent,” a CID official said. Shailesh Bhatt, a native of Amreli who is based in Surat, had alleged that he was kidnapped on February 11by Amreli LCB police inspector Anant Patel and confined at afarmhouse near Ahmedabad.

After the arrest of Kirit Paladiya, it emerged that the kidnapping was staged by Paladiya, who was eyeing Bhatt’s 176 bitcoins, which are worth around Rs 12 crore.

CID officials in a parallel inquiry established contact with the administrator of a bitcoin investment firm, who was kidnapped on February 1in Surat. Three persons posing as income tax officers extorted1,850 bitcoins from him.“We are now trying to find how Bhatt got the bitcoins,” said a CID source.