Rs 15-crore cryptocurrency fraud: Odisha EOW arrests kingpins

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police Crime Branch arrested two kingpins of a racket that swindled people in the name of cryptocurrency investments.

As per reports, the racket was involved in a fraud to the tune of Rs 15 crore in Odisha
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The accused have been identified as Ved Prakash, a resident of Anupgarh in Rajasthan, and Sudhir Patel, a resident of Sundargarh in Odisha.

According to the EOW, Ved Prakash used to serve as a constable in the Rajasthan Police, but was dismissed from his job after he was found involved in financial wrongdoings. 

Since 2022, Ved Prakash had been holding promotional meetings with prospective investors at hotels in Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Puri, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Bargarh. He was persuading people to invest in cryptocurrency for high returns. 

He managed to fleece crores of rupees from over 500 people.     

EOW SP, Dillip Tripathy said, “Fraudsters like Ved Praksh have been tricking people into investing in cryptocurrency. They called people to meetings at hotels and swindled crores of rupees from them in Puri, Bhubaneswar, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda.”

They won the trust of the people by showing brochures and luring them into investing for highly lucrative returns in a short duration. 

“Lured into their trap, many people in Odisha have invested around Rs 15 crore through them. Our EOW team arrested Ved Prakash from Anupgarh recently. We produced both Ved Prakash and Sudhir Patel to OPID court in Cuttack,” Tripathy said.