Amid political blame games in Karnataka for an alleged "cryptocurrency scam" worth more than 9 million rupees, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has stepped up its investigation against the main defendant named Srikrishna Ramesh.
He is also being investigated for allegedly hacking into the Karnataka government Center for Electronic Governance portal and diverting more than 11.55 million rupees, the sources said. He has also been charged with drug trafficking through the dark web.
The 25-year-old hacker, who has allegedly been involved in criminal activity since 2018, has recently been questioned multiple times by the financial investigation agency.
Last week, Karnataka's former chief minister and congressional leader Siddaramaiah alleged that politicians and officials were involved in a "cryptocurrency scam" in the state and that investigative agencies were trying to safeguard them.
The alleged cryptocurrency and drug scams emerged after Karnataka police arrested Srikrishna and his four associates in January this year. He allegedly siphoned bitcoins worth more than 9 million rupees after hacking into accounts of people who were trading cryptocurrencies. He was later granted bail in the case.
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"According to my information, many powerful people are involved [bitcoin scam] and no one should be safeguarded. No one should be saved and the guilty should be punished, whoever they are. Now they say they have referred it to the DE and the CBI. That means there must be something hidden, โclaimed Siddaramaiah.
The leader of the state Congress, DK Shivakumar, said: "I am shocked to learn that there are names of policemen, politicians and businessmen."
In response to the congressional accusations, Karnataka's chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, had assured the media last week that no one would interfere with the investigation. โWe have referred it to the CBI and the ED. The investigation will continue. No one will interfere with this. Let Siddaramaiah tell who is involved, [we] I will investigate. "
While the CBI has yet to take up the case, the DE has been investigating Srikrishna since last year in a money laundering case.
ED officials told India Today that Srikrishna had allegedly hacked into the portal of the Center for Electronic Governance and stolen funds amounting to Rs 10.5 million and diverted Rs 1.05 million to bank accounts through some non-governmental organizations. government (NGO) based in Maharashtra and Uttar. Pradesh.
The ED has already attached Rs 1.44 crore found in the 14 bank accounts in the case involving Srikrishna.
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