Hyderabad: A police case has been registered against cryptocurrency platform COINZX managing director Ravi Mahaseth and his associates following allegations of financial fraud. The company has Dubai links and is spread nationwide, including Hyderabad.
A complaint was lodged by Goshamahal resident Jitender that he lost Rs 5 lakh after investing in the platform. The complaint said that hundreds of other investors, with collective investment of nearly Rs 2 crore, never received the promised returns. The complainant also said that Mahaseth was planning to launch another venture similar to COINZX and a meeting was scheduled in Goa from Feb 12 to 14.
According to the FIR registered by Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) on Tuesday, the complainant was introduced to COINZX by Ramesh Puri who convinced him to invest Rs 1.2 lakh, assuring a monthly return of Rs. 11,000 for 22 months. Encouraged by initial payments for four months, he introduced multiple acquaintances to the scheme. Many investors, including his relatives and friends, contributed varying amounts ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs 12 lakh.
However, after four months, the monthly payments abruptly stopped. The company cited technical issues and promised to resume payments after another four months. Despite reassurances, the funds never materialised and COINZX representatives later promised to clear all dues after 20 months, which also proved to be false, the FIR stated. By the time investors realised it was a fraud, the company had ceased operations and stopped responding to enquiries, he said.
COINZX MD Mahaseth, associates Ramesh Puri and others have been booked under Sections 406, 420, and 120-B of the IPC. The complainant submitted evidence, including transaction details, chat records, photographs of the company representatives and payment confirmations, CCS inspector D Bikshapathi said.
Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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