Mumbai: Even after six years since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lodged a case against Delhi-based Bharadwaj family, it has not yet been able to decipher the crypto assets created by using cryptocurrency.
The prime accused in the case are Ajay Bhardwaj and his late brother Amit Bharadwaj. The directors of Variabletech Pvt Ltd, Singapore are accused of luring investors to invest their bitcoins by promising them much higher returns in bitcoins and in the cryptocurrency developed by this company.
The ED has been probing money laundering allegations against Variabletech which has more than 15 cases of cheating registered against the directions of the company. The ED has claimed that the Bhardwaj family members with other multi-level marketing agents and associates have collected 80,000 bitcoins (worth Rs 6,606 crore as on November 2017) from gullible investors.
Findings In ED Probe
The ED in its probe claimed that the Bhardwaj family has layered and concealed these bitcoins in various obscure online wallets which are not being disclosed by them even today. The ED had last month arrested Ajay's wife Simpy, while he and his father are absconding. Simpy is accused of facilitating their escape.
The agency looked at the family's income tax files, wherein, it was revealed that Simpy's declared income for the AY 2021-2022 is Rs 2.88 lakh per annum whereas the declared income of her husband, Ajay, for the same period is Rs 3.10 lakh. The declared income of her fatherin-law, Mahender, for the same period is Rs 4.35 lakh. Their total income is far less than their monthly expenditure which on the conservative note would be more than Rs6 lakh per month, the agency said.
