Bengaluru: The BJP-led government in Karnataka is facing heat over a year-old 'cryptocurrency scam' involving a notorious high-profile hacker. Here's everything you need to know about the case.
In July 2019, S.K. Shailaja, a financial consultant who was verifying Earnest Money Deposits (EMD) came across Rs 7.37 crore unauthorized fund transfers, after which a complaint was filed with the CID. However, the Bengaluru Cyber Crime police stumbled on the 'bitcoin scam' during the investigations into a drugs case in 2020.
Shrikrishna alias Shriki, the mastermind in the case, who is currently out on bail, was arrested by the police in connection with the Sandalwood drugs case on November 17, 2020.
Investigations revealed he was involved in the alleged hacking of the Karnataka government's e-procurement portal and funds were extracted illegally by unauthorized transactions and transferred to unrelated accounts.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Shriki has been supplying drugs to high-profile clients and was procuring drugs from the darknet using bitcoins.
Further, police stumbled on the fact that Shriki was also a hacker and was indulging in cybercrimes like ransomware attacks, hacking into bitcoin exchanges, looting cryptocurrency, money laundering, and cyber frauds.
Shriki was on the police radar since 2015 for cybercrimes and cyber frauds. He was also named in a Pub brawl incident by MLA NA Haris's son Mohammed Nalpad.
The ED was approached in March 2021 to probe money laundering charges related to the case. In August, the ED in an official statement said Rs 1.44 crore lying in 14 bank accounts had been provisionally attached as part of an investigation in the case.
Read: K'taka Cong urges BJP to release documents on Bitcoin scandal
During interrogation in the narcotics case, the Central Crime Branch claimed to have recovered 31 bitcoins estimated at Rs 9 crore from Shriki.
The Congress party has accused the BJP government of trying to cover up the alleged scam in a bid to protect prominent politicians involved in the scam and has sought a judicial inquiry in the matter.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah alleged the involvement of some 'influential' political leaders of Karnataka in the case. While, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar claimed that it took place on a large scale and said that it is shocking to hear the names of police officers, political leaders, and businessmen in the scam.
Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah had said, "There is information about the involvement of influential politicians of Karnataka in Drugs & Bitcoin scam. It is concerning that the investigating officers are trying to close the case to help those politicians. BJP govt should not use its power to divert the investigation. They should ensure that the guilty are punished."
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Home Minister Araga Jnanendra have denied the claims made by the Opposition.
Bommai told reporters that there is no question of hiding anything. "No matter how influential a person is, if Siddaramaiah can provide an iota of evidence to back his claim, we will investigate. We referred the bitcoin and money laundering case to ED in March 2021 and hacking cases to Interpol wing of CBI in April 2021, while our crime branch is investigating the drugs case," Bommai said.
