Indicted in the US for cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, BitConnect founder booked by Pune police

Pune Police has launched a probe into a multi-crore cryptocurrency ‘fraud’ and booked the founder of cryptocurrency investment platform BitConnect, Satish Kumbhani.

Kumbhani has earlier been indicted in a US court for orchestrating an international Ponzi scheme worth US$ 2.4 billion and is now being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

An FIR was registered at the Cyber police station on Tuesday by a Pune-based lawyer who told the police that he lost close to 220 bitcoins — equivalent to over Rs 42 crore as on Wednesday — through cryptocurrency investment platforms. The lawyer has named Kumbhani (36) and six others.