Odisha EOW arrests 2 scammers involved in Rs 15-crore crypto currency fraud

Suranjan Mishra Published On : Apr 15, 2024 at 10:15 PM

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested two accused persons namely Ved Prakash and Sudhir Patel in connection with a crypto-currency fraud to the tune of around Rs 15 crore, an EOW source said today.

According to the official source, Ved Prakash was arrested from Anupgarh of Rajasthan on April 10, and Sudhir Patel from Sundargarh district of Odisha on April 14.

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A case was previously registered based on the allegation of Pram Sagar Khamari against Ved Prakash, Sudhir Patel, and others for duping many investors like him mainly in Western Odisha of more than Rs 14 crore, in the name of investment with different Crypto through the agencies like ENG Crypto, Entice Capital, USDT Club, ADS Exchange, and CRIT 11 etc. The accused persons were inducing the investors for hefty returns on low investment.

The accused duo was absconding since a long time after registration of the case. However, a team of the EOW was tracking them. The accused in connivance with others held extensive promotional activities in different parts of Odisha during the year 2022 by organising meetings for investment in crypto-currency to get high returns and even double of the invested amount within a very short period.

The two fraudsters, as found so far, have cheated around 500 investors mainly from places like Puri, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, and Bargarh districts of Odisha. In a similar manner, they also cheated the investors of Maharashtra but the amount cheated is not known yet.

Following the arrest, Ved Prakash was produced before the Court of ACJM in Anupgarh and was brought on transit remand to Bhubaneswar. Both the accused were produced before a designated court in Cuttack earlier in the day, under OPID Act.

The scammers were held in EOW PS case (No-28, dated 07.12.2023, U/s 420/467/468/471/120-B of the IPC r/w Section 66 (D) of IT Act, Section 4/5/6 of PCMCS Act and Section 6 of OPID Act.

A detailed probe into the financial fraud is underway.