The Enforcement Directorate has frozen Bitcoins worth ₹7.12 crore and seized ₹1.65 crore in cash as part of its probe in the E-nuggets gaming app case. Assets worth ₹51.16 crore have been seized or frozen in the case so far.
The agency said on Thursday that it conducted another round of searches on two premises in Kolkata, leading to the seizure of cash and freezing of 44.50 Bitcoins, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The probe is based on a First Information Report registered by the Kolkata Police in February last year against businessman Aamir Khan and others, following a complaint lodged by Federal Bank authorities before a city court. Aamir had launched the mobile gaming application which was allegedly designed for the purpose of cheating people.
After collecting handsome amounts from users, withdrawals from the application were stopped suddenly on various pretexts. Thereafter, all the data including profile information was wiped off from its servers. The agency had alleged that over 300 accounts were used to launder the money.
Earlier, during a search operation against Aamir, the ED had seized ₹17.32 crore in cash from his residence and frozen over 85.91 Bitcoins worth about ₹13.56 crore traced to the Binance crypto exchange. Other crypto currencies worth ₹47.64 lakh kept in WazirX accounts were also frozen. This apart, ₹5.47 crore found in the accounts of Aamir and his accomplice was also frozen.
