The accused have allegedly fled the country. Claiming to offer a staggering 200% returns on the investment, the suspects took the investors for holidays to Goa and held meetings at five-star hotels.
At Goa, the accused allegedly organised a grand event for the investors where they explained to them the complex process of blockchain technology and other things to supposedly enable them to give exorbitant returns.
The suspects also promised holidays in Dubai to large investors, while promising assured returns on the side. “They also claimed to be building a swanky office, but when a few investors visited Dubai to check the authenticity, they were allegedly shown random under-construction buildings. The accused also claimed to be running a cooperative society bank in Maharashtra, which turned out to be false,” the FIR stated.
One of the victims, who was allegedly duped of Rs 1.47 crore, told police that the new cryptocurrency was claimed to be equivalent to USD 2.5 at present and the rate was going to skyrocket in the future.
“The accused assured us up to 200% returns within one year and an assured 5% to 20% monthly returns along with other various benefits and awards. We were told that the cryptocurrency had been launched in several countries. The accused had two websites to check the status of our investments, convert it into Bitcoins or withdraw it online. Whenever we tried to withdraw money, the website showed an error,” a victim alleged.
The victims were then told that their returns would be automatically credited to their bank accounts on the 5th, 15th and 25th day of the month, depending upon the corresponding day of doing the investment.
“Despite knowing that most investors were putting their hard-earned money in the firm either through disposing off their savings or takings loans, they played with our emotions and succeeded in their mala fide intention,” said the victim in his complaint.
