NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday summoned Gaurav Mehta, an audit company employee, to appear before it as soon as possible in connection with the Rs 6,600-crore Gain Bitcoin ponzi scam case, officials said.The development came a day after Mehta’s name cropped up in purported tapes of Maharashtra political leaders discussing the encashment of the cryptocurrency worth crores.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Gain Bitcoin ponzi “scam” on the directions of the Supreme Court, swung into action hours after the Enforcement Directorate, probing the money laundering aspect of the case, launched raids at the Mehta’s residence in Chhattisgarh.The Supreme Court handed over cases registered against Variable Tech Pvt Ltd across the country to the CBI in December last year.”During the investigation, it shall be open to the CBI to club/consolidate any one or more of the FIRs,” the top court had said.The apex court had clarified that “in the event that chargesheets have already been filed by the local police in connection with any of the FIR, this shall not preclude the CBI from conducting further investigation and thereafter file chargesheets or supplementary chargesheets as the case may be”.Officials said all aspects related to the alleged involvement of Mehta in the scam are being looked into and the CBI may expand the scope of its investigation.At least 10 FIRs have been registered by the Delhi police against Variable Tech Pvt Ltd, Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj and others for allegedly collecting Bitcoins worth around Rs 6,600 crore from gullible people through their Multi-Level-Marketing scheme with false promises of 10 per cent monthly return in the form of the cryptocurrency.Bitcoins, a cryptocurrency, are not controlled by any central bank of any country.
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