Himachal ex-cop, 2 others held in Mohali in crypto scam

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, October 10

A former constable of the Himachal Pradesh Police who took voluntary retirement is among three persons arrested by the Punjab Police in Mohali’s Zirakpur in the multi-crore Himachal cryptocurrency scam.

Chit Fund: 200% returns promised

• Accused cop had 200 members under him in the chit fund scheme
• Each of the members (or “leaders”), in turn, had 100 investors under them
• The investors were lured with 200% return, said the police

Those arrested were Zirakpur resident Sham Sharma; and Dhanas residents Sunil Kumar (former constable) and Ashwani Kumar, both originally belonging to Puthiana village in Nadaun (HP), said Mohali SSP Sandeep Garg. “Currently, a financial investigation is underway to prepare a trail of their wrongful gains,” he said.

The arrests were made in the first week of September, but the announcement was made today, sources said.

Five mobile phones, two laptops, 10 chequebooks, 13 ATM cards and crucial documents have been recovered. A case was registered against eight persons at Zirakpur police station on September 1 on the complaint of Mohali residents. While three had been arrested, five others, including mastermind Subhash Sharma, were absconding, the police said. A resident of Mandi (HP), Subhash is said to have fled to Dubai. His six properties have been identified in Zirakpur and are being attached.

After over a month of investigation, the police estimate the scam to be worth over Rs 198 crore while the count of duped victims is said to be between 30,000 and 50,000.

The Himachal government had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under DIG (Northern range) Abhishek Dullar to probe the fraud. Sources said several other Himachal constables who had recently opted for voluntary retirement were under scanner. Arrested former constable Sunil Kumar reportedly had 200 “leaders” or members under him in the chit fund scheme, with each, in turn, having 100 investors under them. The investors were lured with the promise of 200 per cent returns, said the police.

The racket assured investment with fixed, quick, easy and astronomical returns with multilevel marketing, also known as “pyramid scheme”, which ultimately could not be monetised. The accused dealt in locally created Korvio cryptocurrency, Hypenext and DGT Coin, which were floated in 2019 and were in circulation till August 2023.