Indian Court Denies Bail in Major Cryptocurrency Fraud Case

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh in India has rejected the bail application of Abhishek Sharma, a key promoter in a large-scale cryptocurrency MLM scam. According to ChainCatcher, the scheme allegedly defrauded over 80,000 investors across India, resulting in estimated losses of 500 million rupees, with the total investment pool reaching approximately 2 billion rupees. The scam involved several fraudulent crypto platforms, including Korvio, Voscrow, DGT, Hypenext, and A-Global, which promised investors doubled returns. Initially, small payouts were made to attract more participants, but all payments ceased abruptly on December 25, 2021. Promoters then redirected users to other platforms, ultimately failing to deliver any returns. India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at eight locations in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, freezing around 12 million rupees in lockers and bank deposits. Investigators revealed that the funds were laundered through real estate developers, shell companies, and family bank accounts, with some senior figures involved fleeing to Dubai.