Hyderabad Police's Central Crime Station (CCS) on Thursday arrested a person from Delhi for duping people in Telangana and other states in the name of online business involving bitcoin transactions.
"The accused have been identified as Ashish Malik and case has been registered against him under section 66 C, D of the IT Act-2008 and Section 419, 420, 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 5 of Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act 1999," said police.
The police added, "Malik was brought on transit warrant from New Delhi and produced before the Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court in Telangana for judicial remand. The arrest was made after a complaint was filed by Bollarapu Rama Krishna, accusing Malik and four other persons in the bitcoin fraud."
The police further said, "As per the complaint, the accused persons have created four websites for collecting money for online bitcoin business. They have appointed various persons as regional heads and agents in different states of the country and induced complainant and other victims to deposit huge amounts for a term of 18 weeks. They promised that every week the returns would be sent to the depositors online to their bank accounts."
"The accused persons collected an amount of approximately Rs 52 crores for about 1,200 depositors all over the country. About 250 depositors are from Telangana. Malik and other accused have also been involved in another case of bitcoin fraud in Delhi. Efforts are being made to trace the other accused," added the police.
On June 26, the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police had unearthed a huge bitcoin scam in the state, with links possibly spread out to other states and even countries.
( With inputs from ANI )