Transnational crypto fraud: CID court orders ₹15 crore return to Tenali woman

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The Sixth Additional Junior Civil Judge-cum-Special Court for CID cases in Guntur has recently ordered the management of a private company, Gate Global Corporation, involved in a cryptocurrency investment fraud, to return assets to a Tenali-based gullible woman who was defrauded of nearly ₹15 crore. The order comes after the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (A.P. CID) busted a transnational cryptocurrency investment fraud, involving eight accused.

“Police arrested four accused from Hyderabad and Maharashtra, and a Look Out Circular [LOC] has been issued for four other accused of Chinese, Portuguese and Malaysian nationals, who have been involved in the fraud,” CID Inspector D. Kasi Viswanadh stated in a release issued on Wednesday.

The amount would be converted and transferred to the victim’s account soon, as per court orders, he added.

According to police, the woman was lured into investing in cryptocurrency platforms over the last six to seven months, promising high returns. According to the complaint, the victim transferred a total of ₹15 crore in different phases.

Acting on a complaint, the A.P. CID registered a case a few months ago on the transnational cybercrime syndicate and took up an investigation, which revealed that the amount was transferred to cryptocurrency wallets, Robinhood and Onchain. The amount was later moved to mule accounts, and it finally landed in the accounts of Gate Global Corporation, a cryptocurrency-based company.

Through sustained investigation, detailed blockchain transaction analysis, technical expertise and international coordination through I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the CID traced the movement of the defrauded cryptocurrency and identified the assets linked to the organised crime syndicate, said CID Director General of Police (DGP) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, who monitored the investigation.

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