PUNE The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought the cooperation of the Pune Police in the investigation of the $6 crore bitcoin fraud case handled by the latter's cybercrime department. City police arrested cybercrime expert Pankaj Ghode and former IPS officer Ravindra Patil in March over the case.
DCP (Economic Offenses Wing and cyber cell) Bhagyashree Navtake said, “ED officials visited the Pune CP office. Informally, they took information and will take documents in a few days."
The Pune Police had taken the assistance of two cyber experts to help them investigate the $Rs 2 billion cryptocurrency scam involving its mastermind Amit Bharadwaj and others in two FIRs filed at Nigdi and Dattawadi police stations in 2018.
According to the latest FIR filed against the cyber experts, the police had tasked them with recovering bitcoins from the defendants' wallets and sharing data with them. Both Patil and Ghode manipulated screenshots of cryptocurrency electronic wallets in the possession of the main defendant and others, and moved a large number of bitcoins into their personal electronic wallets.
The cyber police arrested them in Pune and seized mobile phones, MacBooks, hard drives, tablets, laptops, CDs and other items in their possession on bitcoin theft charges.
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Meanwhile, the cybercrime cell issued a notice under Section 41 A (notice to appear before police officers) from CrPC to the private company where IPS Patil was employed.
