Indian authorities seize $5.6 mill in BitConnect assets
Authorities in Gujarat have seized another 47.7 crore worth of assets tied to BitConnect (~$5.6 million).
As reported by ANI News on October 11th;
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties valued Rs 47.70 crore in connection with ‘Cryptocurrency Bitconnect Coin’ case, the agency said on Friday.
ED’s Ahmedabad based unit attached these properties having present market value of Rs. 47.70 crore on October 9 which are Proceeds of Crime (POC) in the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Gujarat is the home state of BitConnect’s founder Satishkumar Kurjibhai Kumbhani Surat (aka Satish Kumbhani, right).
Kumbhani is wanted by both Indian and US authorities. He is believed to be hiding out in either India or Dubai.
In August 2024 Kumbhani’s accomplice Shailesh Bhatt was arrested in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
BitConnect wasn an MLM crypto Ponzi that launched in late 2017. Coinciding with a $2.4 billion rugpull, BitConnect collapsed in January 2018.
BitConnect investor losses have been pegged at over $4 billion, the majority of which remains unaccounted for.