Kolkata App fraud: Rs 14.53 cr seized from cryptocurrency wallet

Kolkata, Sep 28 (IANS) The Kolkata Police have seized Rs 14.53 crore from a cryptocurrency wallet of Amir Khan, the prime accused in duping several people through a mobile gaming app E-Nuggets.

This amount is in addition to the Rs 17.32 crore worth of cash recovered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the residence of Amir Khan's father, Naser Khan, at Shahi Astabal Lane in Garden Reach area in Kolkata on September 10. Binance has been identified as the platform of the cryptocurrency wallet of Amir Khan where Rs 14.53 crore were deposited.

Amir Khan, who was arrested on September 24 by the Kolkata Police from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, is currently in custody of the city police and his next date of appearance at a lower court in Kolkata is October 8.

Meanwhile, the ED was also keen to take Amir Khan in their custody in order to track the other beneficiaries of the scam. Depending on the developments at the court on October 8, the central agency will decide over its next course of legal proceedings in the matter.

On September 10, the ED conducted raids under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on six premises in Kolkata. Amir Khan had launched a mobile gaming application named E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding the public.

During the initial period, the users were rewarded with commission, and the balance in the wallet could be withdrawn in a hassle-free manner which provided initial confidence to the users, who started investing bigger amounts for greater percentage of commission and a greater number of purchase orders.

After collecting handsome amounts from the public, all of a sudden withdrawal from the said app was stopped on one pretext or the other. Thereafter, all data, including profile information, was wiped out from the said app server.