A court in Ahmedabad has sentenced 14 people to life in prison for their role in a Bitcoin-related extortion case dating back to 2018.
The group includes 11 current and former police officers, as well as a former state lawmaker from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to The Times of India.
Special Judge B.B. Jadav ruled that the group conspired to kidnap a businessman from Surat and force him to hand over cryptocurrency and cash.
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The businessman, Shailesh Bhatt, had previously recovered some of his investment in the failed BitConnect scheme by obtaining Bitcoin
On February 11, 2018, Bhatt was abducted by officers led by Anant Patel of the Amreli crime branch. He was taken to a farmhouse near Gandhinagar, where he was beaten and pressured into admitting he had received 752 BTC and had stored 176 of them with his associate, Kirit Paladiya.
Bhatt’s release came after he agreed to hand over part of the Bitcoin and $3.6 million in cash. When that did not go through, the group forced him to sell 34 BTC from Paladiya’s wallet, worth about $150,000.
Following the incident, Bhatt reported the matter to India’s Union Home Ministry. A criminal investigation was launched, which resulted in the arrest of 15 individuals. The trial featured testimony from 173 witnesses, presented by Special Public Prosecutor Amit Patel.
The court found all 11 officers guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act for abusing their official positions. The remaining defendants were convicted of crimes including kidnapping, unlawful confinement, and physical assault.
Recently, the Taiwan Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office indicted 14 individuals accused of running a crypto laundering scheme. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.
