Dehradun: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recovered 268 bitcoins worth Rs 130 crore from the house of a man from Haldwani during a raid in connection with a money laundering case linked to an international drug trafficking group. The accused, Parvinder Singh, was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is currently being interrogated by ED.
The probe agency initiated investigation based on information from the US authorities. Investigations revealed that two brothers Banmeet Singh and Parvinder Singh along with others were operating an international drug trafficking group named Singh DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) group. These people used vendor marketing sites on the dark web, free advertisements, and network of narcotics to sell drugs in the USA, UK and other European countries.
"The Singh Organization received the drug trafficking proceeds through sale on dark web markets, then laundered those proceeds through crypto currency transactions. Both brothers used monikers "Liston" on a variety of dark web markets including 'Silk Road 1', 'Alpha Bay' and 'Hansa'," ED said in its statement.
ED said that Parvinder Singh has agreed to surrender his income earned through online sale of illegal drugs. Earlier, on April 26, searches were conducted in four premises, in which digital devices and other incriminating documents were seized.
Presently, ED has got seven days' custody of Parvinder Singh. The probe agency had raided Parvinder Singh's house and other places in Haldwani for more than 20 hours. Parvinder's brother Banmeet Singh is serving sentence in America.
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