Hyderabad: Crypto conman ploughed crores into Georgian vaults

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a man for laundering multi-crore funds from Hyderabad to Georgia and Armenia by duping people by promising huge returns through hedge funds of Russian oil company Rosneft and cryto-currency investments.
Ashish Malik (37) was taken into custody by the ED on September 10 from Tihar jail where he was lodged in connection with a case probed by Delhi police Economic Offences Wing (EOW). A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Hyderabad authorised the ED to arrest Malik, the ED said on Tuesday.
Malik was arrested by the EOW in May this year for duping more than a thousand people on the pretext of making investments in Rosneft. The total proceeds of the crime (POC) was Rs 52 crore. "There are more than a thousand victims in Hyderabad. Some of them paid Rs 20,000 each to Malik. The money was taken to Georgia and Armenia. Hyderabad police have registered a case," the ED said.
Malik along with his accomplices, Sunil Singh Chauhan and Sandeep Kaushik, promised people of 20% returns per month on the pretext of making investments in Rosneft hedge fund and also launched two crypto coins 'RHFCOIN' and 'RHFGOLD'. The ED said: "The accused collected crores of funds from people all across India and laundered it by investing the same in cryptocurrencies, largely bitcoins. Subsequently, the accused and his accomplices siphoned off the funds."
The ED said further investigations have been launched to unearth the actual amount of POC.
Malik along with Sandeep was arrested first in February 2018 by the cyber cell of Crime Branch, Delhi, following a complaint from a Haryana resident who paid 27 bitcoins to the directors of Rosneft hedge fund for extraordinary returns.