BitConnect founder and wanted fugitive Satish Kumbhani has been tracked to Ahmedabad, a city in the Indian state of Gujurat.

As reported by the Economic Times on February 14th; following an investigation into crypto transactions, the Enforcement Directorate was able to seize crypto “assets worth ₹1,646 crore” (~$190 million USD).

Kumbhani, 36, will shortly be interrogated by the ED and is likely to be taken into custody, the people said, adding that to ensure that he doesn’t escape the country, the agency has issued a ‘look out circular’ against him.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest in Kumbhani wasn’t apprehended by February 14th (the date of ET’s report), he’s probably on the run again.

Following the seizure of crypto assets on Wednesday, the ED will also commence restitution of proceeds of crime to the victims of the scandal, according to the people. These would include foreign nationals from various countries, they said.

BitConnect was an MLM crypto investment scheme that pioneered the “lending” Ponzi model. The scam collapsed in 2017 through an epic $2.4 billion BCC token crash.

Satish Kumbhani (right), BitConnect’s founder, was indicted in the US in 2022.

Kumbhani, who has ties to Dubai, was reported to have fled India in the lead up to his US indictment. It appears at some point Kumbhani snuck back into India and had been living in secret.

At time of publication there are no updates on Kumbhani’s US criminal case docket. If Kumbhani is finally in custody, whether Indian authorities will extradite him to the US is unclear.