NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out searches in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai in a cryptocurrency fraud, in which an Indian national – Chirag Tomar, 31, has been sentenced to serve five years in prison in the US, the agency said on Monday.
A US district judge in Charlotte (North Carolina), in October 2024 sentenced Tomar for stealing more than $20 million from hundreds of victims through the use of fake or spoofed websites that mimicked cryptocurrency exchange website Coinbase.
Tomar, according to the US attorney’s office statement in October 2024, used the victims’ funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle, including purchase of rare watches such as Audemars Piguet and luxury vehicles such as Lamborghinis and Porsches, and to make trips to Dubai, Thailand and elsewhere.
On December 20, 2023, Tomar was arrested at the Atlanta airport upon entering the United States. On May 20, 2024, Tomar pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.
After his sentencing in the US, ED launched a probe under the foreign exchange management act (FEMA) in the matter.
The federal agency has estimated that crypto worth ₹600 crore was converted at various Indian crypto exchanges and subsequently transferred by the accused.
On February 20, ED carried out searches at Delhi, Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) under FEMA.
“The case pertains to conversion of crypto currency worth around ₹600 crore at various Indian crypto exchanges and subsequent transfer of the funds to the beneficiaries,” ED said in its statement.
It added that trusted websites were spoofed in such a way that when the website would be searched, the spoofed website would appear at the top. “The spoofed website appeared exactly similar to the trusted website except the contact details,” ED said.
“When users entered the login credentials, the spoofed website would show it wrong. Therefore, the users would contact the number given in the spoofed website which would eventually connect them to the designated call centre managed by Chirag Tomar,” it added.
Once the fraudsters gained access to the victims’ accounts, they quickly transferred the victims’ cryptocurrency holdings to crypto currency wallets under their control. “The stolen crypto currency would then be sold on a website named– localbitcoins.com– and converted into Indian rupee at Indian crypto exchanges,” ED said.
Subsequently, the money was “transferred in the bank accounts of Chirag Tomar and his family members.”
ED has traced ₹15 crore received by Tomar and his family.
It said, “several bank accounts pertaining to the Tomar family have been frozen during the searches including deposits of ₹2.18 crore kept in them”.
Besides, ED found that a similar modus of selling doubtful crypto on local bitcoins and its conversion to Indian rupee on Indian crypto exchanges was unearthed during the search operation.
