BHUBANESWAR: A probe into the sensational one-time password scam by the Special Task Force of Crime Branch has revealed the accused were involved in cryptocurrency trade amounting to over Rs 1 crore.STF had arrested Pritam Kar (31) of Jajpur district’s Bhurunga village on June 11 for allegedly selling pre-activated SIM cards to two agents working for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Kar and his associates had reportedly been selling OTPs, mule bank accounts and pre-activated digital wallets to cyber criminals and ISI agents since 2017.
During the investigation, STF officers found that Kar had opened an account with a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform. He had linked two bank accounts and a unified payments interface (UPI) ID with the exchange. In the last two years, Kar had traded in cryptocurrency (buying/selling) amounting to over Rs 1 crore. STF sources said he purchased cryptocurrency worth Rs 1 crore but later sold them and received more than Rs 97 lakh during the same period.
On being contacted by STF, the exchange informed the agency Kar’s activities were found to be suspicious. A dubious person had reportedly referred Kar and more than 1,000 other people to open accounts in the exchange. Kar had also referred at least 15 people to open accounts with the exchange. Sources said STF is investigating whether the accused received cryptocurrency from Pakistani agents for selling OTPs and pre-activated SIMs to them.
Kar received crypto deposits from unidentified sources through foreign exchanges like Coinbase, FTX Trading Limited and BitMart. Another accused involved in the scam, Saroj Kumar Nayak, had also opened an account with a leading cryptocurrency exchange. He had linked two bank accounts and as many UPI IDs with the exchange. Nayak had purchased cryptocurrency worth Rs 3 lakh and sold them through foreign exchanges. STF has blocked the crypto accounts of Kar and Nayak.
Crypto link
Pritam Kar had linked two bank accounts and an UPI with a crypto exchange
Kar was referred to the exchange along with 1,000 others
The accused had referred 15 people to open accounts with the exchange