60-Year-Old Mastermind Of A Rs 2.5 Cr Cryptocurrency Scam Arrested In Delhi On Arrival From Dubai

The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi police on Thursday arrested Umesh Verma, the absconding mastermind of a Cryptocurrency scam.

Verma was arrested at the Delhi Airport on his arrival from Dubai, where he has been hiding since 2018.

EOW Delhi Police

According to the Delhi Police, the 60-year-old and his son Bharat Verma and others had defrauded some 45 people to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore in the name of Cryptocurrency investment.

In 2017, Verma and his associates had launched Pluto Exchange and collected money from investors for Zarus Coin.

Pluto Exchange was said to be based in Dubai and had an office in Delhi.

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Bharat who introduced himself as the CEO and founder of Pluto Exchange had claimed that his company will be launching the country¡¯s first app-based wallet that enables bitcoin transactions using a mobile number.

They had claimed that through the app investors could purchase major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ripple, Coin Zarus, Ethereum, Lite Coin, etc.

The company had assured investors that they would receive 20-30% returns on investments.

Reuters

However, none of these were real, and by the time the investors had realized that they have been cheated, Verma had fled Delhi and in 2018 managed to flee to Dubai, where he reportedly continued the business.

He was arrested in a case filed by one of the duped investors in September this year.

According to the police, this is not the first time, Verma, who is a former jeweller has been arrested for fraud.

In 2017, he was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in a gold smuggling case.