Crypto racket which siphoned off Rs 40 crore investments busted in Nagpur

NAGPUR: The city police have busted the first organized cryptocurrency racket based in Nagpur in which investments to the tune of more than Rs40 crore were siphoned off through a company ‘Ether Trade Asia’. A dramatic raid was conducted at Lonavala in an early dawn operation in collaboration with Pune rural police.
At a press briefing on Saturday, city police chief Amitesh Kumar said that the amount may be even higher, which the ingoing probe can unearth.Police have seized almost 50 tola gold, high-end vehicles worth more than Rs one crore and other paraphernalia, including a firearm and seven live cartridges, worth more than Rs1.13 crore.

“The gang was staying in a duplex with friends, families and others. Wives and children of many too were present when cops zeroed in on the gang,” said the CP adding that the racket may also have Pune connection.
Police have so far come across details of around 172 persons who lost Rs3.70 crore. But the racket’s website and online transactions led to several more dubious transactions in digital currencies, which are worth Rs40 crore as of now.
Four persons, identified as Nishid Wasnik, his wife Pragati, and their aides Gajanan Mungune and Sandesh Lanjewar were arrested from the lavish duplex in Lonavala. They had been long evading the special crime branch team instituted by Kumar to assist the Economic Offences Wing (EoW). The gang was traced with the help of cyber techniques.
Wasnik and his gang had also kidnapped and shot one of their close aides, Madhav Pawar, in Washim last year over a dispute. It is learnt, Pawar was killed for not sharing password of crucial transactions. Wasnik had been eluding arrest in the murder case.
The gang, sheltered and supported by a top gangster from Pune, has been duping gullible investors since 2017, said Kumar who was flanked by addl CPs, Navinchandra Reddy, Sunil Phulari and EoW DCP Akshay Shinde. “The racketeers misappropriated around 1,500-2,000 Ethers (a type of cryptocurrency) each valued at around Rs2.25 lakh. They also duped investors in cash transaction indicating that the fraud could be worth several crores more,” said the CP.
Kumar said that Wasnik and his gang had organized an extravagant event at a top hotel in Pachmari, where he lured investors to enter various schemes. “The investors were guided into purchasing Ethers from ZebPay website and transfer them to Ether Trade Asia’s website through a trust wallet,” said the CP.
“On the website, the gang projected a notional benefit to each investor but siphoned off their Ethers to benefit Wasnik and his aides,” the CP said and added, “Wasnik and his gang seemed to have transferred huge number of Ethers to some other site or monetized them to support his lavish lifestyle.
The CP lauding efforts of senior PI Kishor Parvate, sub-inspectors Mohekar and cyber expert Balram Zadokar and others in busting the gang.
Yashodhara Nagar police station last year had registered offence against the gang and a woman too was rounded up. The probe came to a standstill after the gang went underground.
How gang was caught
* Cyber experts zeroed in on the gang by tracking online activities of the members and their families
* A year ago, the gang went into hiding while moving to city from Panchmari. They stayed in Delhi, Gujarat, Pune and other places before settling in Lonavala
* Anticipating exchange of fire during the raid, CP Amitesh Kumar sought help of Pune rural police and commandos to surround the duplex of Nishid Wasnik
* Cops treaded cautiously as family members of the gang were present in the duplex
* Cops along with the commandos barged in and took positions
* A senior citizen was the first to emerge from the house. Cops urged him to cooperate
* Other family members were nabbed during the one-and-half hour action which ended at around 5am on Thursday