Fifteen members of a gang that allegedly lured businessmen to invest in cryptocurrency schemes with promises of doubling their money and then stole the cash by staging robberies have been arrested, the Bengaluru police said on Tuesday.
According to the police, the scam came to light when a man approached the Vidyaranyapura police on June 26, saying he was robbed of Rs 2 crore during a business transaction. When the police began investigating, they allegedly realised that the complaint was a ruse to misguide them.
Seemant Kumar Singh, Police Commissioner of Bengaluru, stated on Tuesday that the investigation revealed the accused had split their gang into two groups. The first group allegedly approached wealthy businessmen, built trust, and then offered to convert their excess, unaccounted cash into cryptocurrency, particularly USD Tether. They allegedly promised to double the investment and reroute funds through RTGS transactions, and also offered GST benefits.
Once the businessmen were convinced and agreed to convert their black money into white, the second group staged a robbery while the cash transaction was taking place, the police said.
According to the police, in the June 26 case, the gang allegedly targeted businessmen Bharath Singh from Bengaluru and Abhishek from Mangaluru, offering to convert Rs 2 crore through the cryptocurrency scheme. The police recovered Rs 1.11 crore in cash and seized several assets, including four cars, four two-wheelers, two autorickshaws, multiple weapons (two knives, one long knife, one machete), and eight mobile phones from the accused.
The police identified the accused as Benjamin Harsha, 45, from Yelahanka; Rakshith M, 29, from Tumakuru; Chandra Shekar HS, 58, from Bagalagunte; Syed Akeeb Pasha alias Akeeb Pasha, 30, from Vidyaranyapura; Mohammed Suhail, 28, Salman Khan, 32, and Muheeb S, 30, from Vidyaranyapura; Mohsin Khan, 32, from Chamarajpet; Salman Khan, 35, from Banashankari; Shreeharsha V, 33, from Kengeri; Syed Amjod, 31 and Syed Afrid, 27, from MS Palya; Syed Wasim, 23, from KR Puram; Sheikh Wasim, 33, from Vinayak Nagar and Mohammed Ateeq, 38, from Kumaraswamy Layout.
Many of the arrested suspects have previous criminal records, the police said, adding that four accused—Sandeep, Sheikh Saadu, Rakesh, and Mohammed Shabir—are absconding.