Ed Raids Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur

Mumbai: The headquarters of the Application Directorate (ED) performed search operations in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur in connection with a conversion rocket of cryptocurrency RS 600-chore. The searches were carried out on February 20, in accordance with the foreign exchange law (FEMA), 1999, at several spaces suspected of the conversion of crypto -critico and facilitating illegal fund transfers through crypto exchanges, the Agency said Monday. central.

Ed initiated an investigation based on a newspaper report that reveals that Chirag Tomar, an Indian citizen, executes a prison sentence in the United States to fraud over $ 20 million through false or spoofed sites that mimic the platform. of exchange of cryptocurrencies coinbase. Tomar and his associates created a fraudulent website, coinbasepro.com, which resembled the legitimate pro.coinbase.com.

Users who do not respect, after entering the authentication credentials, have been misled to believe that there is an error. When they contacted the customer assistance number displayed on the Spoofed website, they were redirected to a Tomar -operated call center. Once the fraudsters have achieved access to the victims’ accounts, they quickly transferred cryptocurrency holdings into wallets under their control. The stolen digital assets were then sold on LocalBitcoins.com and transformed into INR through Indian crypto shifts.

It is assumed that the illicit operations generated Rs 15 crore, with some of the funds followed by Tomar’s family. Ed froze several bank accounts related to members of his family, and the frozen amount so far is at Rs 2.18 Crore

According to Ed, it was revealed that similar fraudulent transactions involving the sale of dubious cryptocurrency and conversion to INR were discovered during the attacks. Further investigations are being identified to identify additional beneficiaries and money routes.

Tomar was arrested by the American authorities in December 2023 at Atlanta airport at the entrance to the country. On May 20, 2024, he pleaded guilty by the conspiracy of the connected fraud and was placed in the custody of the Federal Prison Bureau.