The mastermind behind the ATC Coin fraud, Subhashchand Jewria was arrested nearly a year ago by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police for allegedly duping investors of around 84 crores. However, the EOW is not able to build a substantial case against him as the duped investors refuses to testify bringing the case to a dead end.
A resident of Goregaon, Jewria, reportedly lured investor into investing in his Ponzi cryptocurrency marketing scheme. He promised to return their investment as cryptocurrency which could be utilized for online shopping after a lock-in period of 18 months. During their investigation, EOW managed to pin down some of the investors who invested in ‘ATC Coin Ltd’. But the twist in the story is that none of them willing to share the details of their respective losses nor they want to testify against Jewria. In the absence of investors, the case which was registered under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act has come at an impasse.
An officer who wants to remain anonymous told the local publishing Indian Express:
“Since the case deals with cryptocurrency and in the absence on proper law and regulation, investors are scared that if they come forward, they might face a lot of scrutiny. While we managed to trace a few of investors, they did not lodge any complaint. The case has been stuck since then. Also, with the case registered under MPID, while the assets of the accused have been frozen, the same cannot be disbursed among investors since none of them has come forward.”
As per the report, the accused formulated a company named ATC Coin Ltd in the United Kingdom, under the lieu of selling cryptocurrency. Websites of the company http://www.atccoinmlm.com, http://www.atccoin.net and http://www.cryptoinbox.com were floated on the web to gain trust from the investors.
The scheme was simple, the investor had to invest between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000 in the company’s scheme. After a lock- in period of 18 months, they were suppose to be allocated the ATC coins, which could be traded on exchanges. EOW further reports that the company managed to raise Rs 84 crore, which were diverted to the accuses personal accounts. An officer privy to the investigation told the publishing:
“We received information on cryptocurrency ATC Coin floated by Jewria. Subsequently, a reference from the RBI forwarding an anonymous complaint with the same allegation was also received. Accordingly, a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) was constituted and after scrutinising the statement of accounts, we found that it was a bogus scheme floated by Jewria in the garb of a cryptocurrency.”
Jewria, his companies ATC Coin Ltd and Jewria Services Club India Pvt Ltd and his brother, Chirag was booked by the EOW for cheating (420), criminal breach of trust (409) and criminal conspiracy 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the MPID Act. Furthermore a thorough search of the accuses’ office and residential addresses were performed and 28 accounts were frozen. Though the EOW could not proceed to pay out to investors as they adamantly refused to provide evidence.
It was later revealed that ATC Coin Ltd, was registered in UK at an Covent Garden, London, address. The firm was touted to be engaged in the business of fund management and to formulate a cryptocurrency by name ‘ATC Coin’. Jewria was found to be the sole director of the company. The official added:
“When we verified the office address, we found that around 9,000 companies were registered at the said address. However, it did not include the name of ATC Coin Ltd… it is a fictitious company which only exists on paper. It a classic case of fraud committed by floating a multi-level marketing scheme and luring investors with high returns and enviable rewards like sponsoring a foreign vacation or gifting high-end cars and also the claim that after completion of a lock-in period of 18 months, the cryptocurrency could be used for online shopping.”
Read more: Another Crypto MLM Scheme Busted In India, Kashh Coin Founder Arrested In Delhi
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