ED freezes Bitcoins worth Rs 7.12 crore in E-nuggets case

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen Bitcoins worth Rs 7.12 crore and seized Rs 1.65 crore in cash as part of its probe in the E-nuggets gaming app case, officials said.

The agency recently carried out search operations at two premises in Kolkata, leading to seizure of Rs 1.65 crore in cash and freezing of 44.5 Bitcoin (equivalent to Rs 7.12 crore as per exchange rate) and other incriminating documents under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The instant case was registered on the basis of the FIR filed by the Kolkata police against Aamir Khan and others. The FIR filed was based on a complaint filed by Federal Bank authorities in a city court.

Khan, launched a mobile gaming application namely E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding public. Further, after collecting handsome amount from the public, all of the sudden, the withdrawal from the said app, was stopped, on one or the other pretext. Thereafter, all data including profile information was wiped off from the app servers.

It was revealed that multiple accounts (more than 300) were used to launder the money, officials said.

Earlier during search operation against Khan, an amount of Rs 17.32 crore was seized from his residence and Bitcoins worth Rs 13.56 crore and other crypto currencies worth Rs 47.64 lakh were traced and freezed. Apart from this, Rs 5.47 crore found in the bank account of Khan and his accomplice was also freezed by the agency.

During investigations conducted under PMLA, an amount of Rs 51.16 crore has been seized so far in total in the case.

Further investigation in the matter is on.