By
Temitope Olatunji
April 12th, 2024
The SEC said in a February 28th filing that Kumbhani had possibly disappeared from India as his whereabouts were unknown.
Authorities in India are now seeking BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani after his name popped up in a complaint. A local lawyer mentioned Kumbhani in a complaint known as a First Information Report (FIR) in the southwest city of Pune. The Pune-based lawyer said in his complaint that he lost almost 220 Bitcoin worth Rs 420 million ($5.2 million). According to the man, he lost the money through multiple cryptocurrency investment platforms.
BitConnect Founder Wanted in India
Along with the BitConnect founder, the lawyer also mentioned six other names in his FIR. The police prepared an FIR after verifying the facts of the complaints, meaning the law enforcement agency has begun an investigation into the matter. According to the complainant, he was defrauded of his original investments and the returns. Kumbhani said his original investment was 54 Bitcoin, and returns were 166 BTCs. He alleged that he was made to reinvest the return into the crypto investment platforms between 2016 and June 2021. According to The Indian Express, the police have not made any arrests in the case.
BitConnect enjoyed the buzz of the initial coin offering (ICO), which was loud in mid-2017. The crypto protocol generated billions of dollars from investors, paying out 10% of interest earnings through BCC tokens. BitConnect even offered more benefits to investors who refer others. In February, the US Department of Justice criminally charged Kumbhani in addition to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suing him in September last year. The SEC said the executive fraudulently raised over $2 billion for BitConnect. The DOJ criminal charge came less than a year after the SEC charged him. The Justice Department claimed that Kumbhani was involved in a $2.4 billion Ponzi scheme where investors in the US lost a lot of money. However, he vanished.
Kumbhani’s Whereabout Unknown
The SEC said in a February 28th filing that Kumbhani had possibly disappeared from India as his whereabouts were unknown.
“In October 2021, the Commission learned that Kumbhani has likely relocated from India to an unknown address in a different foreign country. Since November, the Commission has been consulting with that country’s financial regulatory authorities in an attempt to locate Kumbhani’s address. At present, however, Kumbhani’s location remains unknown, and the Commission remains unable to state when its effort to locate him will be successful, if at all.”
Already, BitConnect former promoter, Glenn Arcaro, has pled guilty to the fraud charges. He admitted that he conspired with other executives in the Ponzi scheme, and the DOJ confirmed. In a report, the Justice Department said Arcaro has admitted to participating in a massive conspiracy involving BitConnect. According to the Department, the scheme is considerably the largest crypto fraud ever charged criminally.