The CBI has seized cryptocurrency worth over $930,000 (about Rs 7.7 crore) from an Ahmedabad man who allegedly duped a US citizen posing as a senior executive of a multinational’s fraud wing, officials said. Based on input from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CBI has filed an FIR against Ramavat Shaishav, who allegedly contacted the US citizen over the phone and introduced himself as “James Carlson” of the fraud division of Amazon. they said.
During searches, the CBI found 28 Bitcoin, 55 Ethereum, 25,572 Ripple and 77 USDT in Shaishav’s e-wallet. These were transferred to the government’s wallet at the time of seizure, the officials said. He allegedly convinced the victim that unscrupulous elements had access to his account on Amazon and that his Social Security benefits were being used from four different states to open accounts on the e-commerce platform. “It was also alleged that the suspect induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit it in Bitcoin into the RockitCoin ATM Wallet, and also shared a QR code to falsely inform him (the victim) that the same had been opened by the suspect. The US Treasury for him,” the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson said.
It is alleged that in order to gain the victim’s trust, Shaishav emailed a forged letter dated September 20, 2022, claiming that it was issued by the US Federal Trade Commission. “Following the said inducement, the victim allegedly withdrew an amount of $130,000 (approximately Rs. 1.08 crore) from his bank accounts on various dates during the period from August 30, 2022 to September 9, 2022, and deposited the same into the bank account . Bitcoin address provided by the suspect,” the official said.
This amount was allegedly embezzled by Shaishav. “Searches were conducted at the suspect’s premises in Ahmedabad which led to the recovery and seizure of cryptocurrencies namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc. worth (approximately) USD 939,000 from the crypto wallets of the suspect, and incriminating material,” the spokesperson said.
The role of two of Shaishav’s accomplices, who are also based in Ahmedabad, has emerged. The CBI also searched their premises and this led to the seizure of mobile phones, laptops containing incriminating material and other digital devices.