An Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 individuals, including 11 police officials and a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), to life imprisonment for their roles in the kidnapping and extortion of cryptocurrency from a Surat-based businessman in 2018.
The judgment, issued by Special Judge B.B. Jadav in Ahmedabad on Friday, found the defendants guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping for ransom, illegal detention, and assault, according to a report by The Times of India.
Convicted individuals include former Amreli district superintendent of police Jagdish Patel and ex-MLA Nalin Kotadiya. All 11 police officers, including former IPS officer Patel, were also found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act for their misconduct as public servants.
The case revolves around businessman Shailesh Bhatt, who reportedly recovered part of his lost investment from BitConnect developer Dhaval Mavani in Bitcoin (BTC) after losing money when the $900 million company he had invested in shut down.
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Surat businessman kidnapped over Bitcoin
Upon discovering that Bhatt had managed to retrieve some of his investments, Kotadiya and senior officers in Amreli allegedly hatched a plan to seize the cryptocurrency. On Feb. 11, 2018, Bhatt was abducted and unlawfully held at Keshav Farm near Gandhinagar.
The kidnapping was led by Amreli local crime branch inspector Anant Patel and involved several officers. Bhatt was reportedly assaulted and forced to admit that he had received 752 Bitcoin from Mavani and had stored 176 with his associate, Kirit Paladiya. The other bitcoins were sold for approximately $5 million.
Bhatt was only released after agreeing to transfer a portion of the Bitcoin and $3.6 million in cash. When the arrangement fell through, the accused coerced Bhatt into selling 34 Bitcoin from Paladiya’s wallet, leading to an extortion of $150,000.
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Crypto kidnap probe triggers 15 arrests
Bhatt subsequently filed a complaint with the Union home ministry, which led to a criminal investigation and the arrest of 15 individuals. The special public prosecutor Amit Patel led the prosecution, presenting 173 witnesses during the trial.
The court also ordered the confiscation of gold jewelry recovered from Amreli SP Patel, which will be sent to the Master of Mint in Mumbai.
Last week, Thai authorities apprehended a South Korean man accused of assisting a call center gang in laundering cryptocurrencies into gold worth over $50 million.
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