NEW DELHI: In a major relief to cryptocurrency investors, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by a batch of investors seeking multiple reliefs in the "Gainbitcoin" scam.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the Centre and sought its reply after hearing a plea filed by Gautam Mahendrakumar Chordia and others.
The Gainbitcoin scam, estimated at a mind-boggling value of Rs. 1.3 lakh crore was perpetrated during the period of 2015-18, the plea said. It was filed through Krishnamohan Menon, Advocate on Record (AOR), and advocates Jeevlin Jiji and Prerna Jain Kala.
The plea said the Ponzi scheme, originally floated as a multilevel marketing scheme, was allegedly masterminded by family members Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj.
It added that agency investigations reveal the scam was executed through a chain of agents across the country and abroad. The companies fronting the scheme are said to be Variabletech Pte Ltd., Singapore, and Radox Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
"Promising an assured return of 1.8 bitcoins for every bitcoin or bitcoin equivalent of value invested, the accused roped in monies from over 1 lakh investors spread across India," the plea stated.
Seeing that the money was being siphoned off and the promised returns were not forthcoming, investors registered FIRs at different places in 2018 itself. The CBI and the ED also joined the investigations at different stages.
Noting the gravity of the matter, the Supreme Court had cancelled the bail granted to all the accused in 2023 and directed the CBI to consolidate the FIRs as it deemed appropriate.
As of today, more than eight years have passed and, despite the best efforts of the agencies, only a few hundred crores worth of assets have been seized. The plea highlighted that the seizures are estimated to account for less than 1 per cent of the total scam.
It further stressed that some of the accused are also facing separate FIRs for alleged attempts to block ED officers and thereby help the other accused flee.
Left with no other option, the investors formed the "Bitcoin Investors Protection Society", and many of them have now approached the Supreme Court.
The petitioners acknowledged that a combined effort bringing together judicial, ministerial, technical and investigative expertise is necessary to make progress in what is an entirely new domain for the country.
They have sought the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or committee comprising retired judicial officers, representatives of investigating agencies, ministry representatives and a team of technical experts. According to the plea, the objective is to ensure broader digital investigation, international collaboration, asset recovery, victim restitution and protocol development for the future.
The investors have also sought the arrest of the absconding accused and the consolidation of the scattered investigations.
