20 August, AtoZ Markets – Reportedly, Indian police have arrested an individual that has been allegedly involved in advertising Bitconnect. Bitconnect is known to be a recent investment scam. It is the high-yield investment program that has canceled its operation earlier this year after authorities have claimed that it is a Ponzi scheme.
Bitconnect India Head Allegedly Arrested
The arrested man is Divyesh Darji. He is believed to have served as head of Bitconnect in India. Mr. Darji is a resident of Surat city. He has reportedly been arrested in Delhi airport on 18th of August after a tip-off from local immigration services. Some of the online reports quote Inspector P G Narwade of Criminal Investigation Department (CID-Crime) of Gujarat police as saying:
“[Bitconnect] came into existence in 2016, and in 2017, it launched the BitConnect [BCC] coin. It remained active till January this year. It released 2.8 crores [28 million] coins, out of which 1.8 crores [18 million] coins were sold to investors. The accused held seminars, events in India and other countries promising high interest — daily interest rate of 1 percent — on investment in BitConnect coins.”
He has also added that the cost of one BCC coin has stood at $362 at the date when Bitconnect has formally suspended its operations.
As per online reports, a recently filed Freedom of Information Report (FIR) indicated that this is the third case under investigation by the Surat unit of CID. Indian advertisers of Bitconnect are suspected of having fled with 1.14 crore (11.4 million) rupees worth of Bitcoin from one investor.
The CID also noted that staff at the Bitconnect office in Surat has admitted that promoters have collected “crores [tens of millions] of rupees from thousands of investors.”
Bitconnect Shut Down
Earlier this January, AtoZ Markets reported that following two cease-and-desist letters from the US regulators, BitConnect platform shut down. The team behind the project has blamed the "bad press" for the latest developments at that time. One of the biggest reasons for Bitconnect’s decision to close operations was the regulatory pressures.
In the meantime, many industry insiders have been expressing criticism in regards to BitConnect, suspecting that the project is a Ponzi scheme.
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