The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked a person for his alleged involvement in cyber enabled fraud and seized various cryptocurrencies worth about $930,000 (around ₹7.7 crore) from different crypto-wallets.
The accused has been identified as Ramavat Shaishav, who operated under the pseudonym James Carlson. It is alleged that he contacted a U.S. citizen over phone, introducing himself as a representative of the Fraud Department of a multi-national company falsely informing the victim that someone had been trying to order a computer using the victim’s account.
The accused also misguided the victim that people in four different States had used the person’s social security number to open the accounts of the company. He then induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit the same in the form of Bitcoins with RockitCoin ATM wallet.
Mr. Shaishav also allegedly shared a QR code falsely claiming that it was opened by the U.S. Treasury for the victim. “The accused also emailed a fake letter dated September 20, 2022, purportedly issued by the Federal Trade Commission, USA, to gain trust of the victim,” said the agency.
The victim ended up withdrawing $130,000 (around ₹1.08 crore) from his bank accounts on different dates and deposited the same in the Bitcoin address provided by the accused. Subsequently, the funds were misappropriated by the accused. The CBI received inputs in this regard from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
After registering the case, the agency conducted searches on the premises of accused in Ahmedabad and took control of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc. worth about $930,000 kept in crypto-wallets of the accused.
“During searches, the involvement of two other persons, both residents of Ahmedabad, have also surfaced. Therefore, searches were also conducted on their premises, resulting in the seizure of mobile phones and laptops containing incriminating material,” said a CBI official.
