Indian court sentences government officials to life imprisonment in a bitcoin theft case

Главное:

• An Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 people to life imprisonment for kidnapping and extorting cryptocurrency from a businessman.
• Among those convicted are the former superintendent of police of Amreli district and a former member of the Indian Legislative Assembly.
• Presumably, the victim of extortion could have been a criminal himself.

An Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 people, including 11 police officers and a former member of the Indian Legislative Assembly from the Bharatiya Janata Party, to life imprisonment in a case involving the kidnapping and extortion of cryptocurrency from a businessman in Surat in 2018.

According to The Times of India, Special Judge B.B. Jadav found the group guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping for ransom, unlawful detention, and assault.

Among those convicted are former Amreli district superintendent of police Jagdish Patel and

former Member of the Legislative Assembly of India Nalin Kotadiya. All 11 police officers, including Patel’s former subordinate, were also found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act for misconduct by public servants.

Kidnapping and extortion

The verdict was handed down in a case that began in 2018, when Shailesh Bhatt was kidnapped and illegally detained in a farmhouse near Gandhinagar. Under Patel’s direction, the kidnappers beat Bhatt and forced him to confess that he had received 752 bitcoins, some of which were kept by his business partner Kirit Paladiya. Bhatt was released only after he agreed to hand over some of his cryptocurrency and cash. The court found that Kotadiya personally threatened Bhatt and participated in the ransom negotiations.

The victim turned out to be a fraudster

The investigation revealed that Bhatt himself may have been involved in fraud: he allegedly received bitcoins linked to the Bitconnect Ponzi scheme by posing as a tax official and extorting them from another Surat businessman, Dhaval Mavani. Mavani later accused Bhatt of kidnapping and forcibly seizing 2256 bitcoins.

The judge also expressed concern about the actions of law enforcement officials who failed to fulfill their constitutional duties after learning of Bhatt’s alleged involvement in illegal bitcoin transactions.