Indian Court Sentences 14 in Crypto Kidnapping Case

According to Cointelegraph, an Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 individuals, including 11 police officials and a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), to life imprisonment for their involvement in the kidnapping and extortion of cryptocurrency from a businessman based in Surat in 2018. The verdict was delivered by Special Judge B.B. Jadav in Ahmedabad, who found the group guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping for ransom, illegal detention, and assault. Among those convicted are former Amreli district superintendent of police Jagdish Patel and ex-MLA Nalin Kotadiya. The 11 police officers, including former IPS officer Patel, were also found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act for misconduct by public servants. The case revolves around businessman Shailesh Bhatt, who had reportedly recovered a portion of his lost investment from BitConnect developer Dhaval Mavani in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) after the $900 million company he invested in shut down. Upon learning that Bhatt managed to recover some of his investments, Kotadiya and senior officers in Amreli allegedly orchestrated a plot to seize the cryptocurrency. On February 11, 2018, Bhatt was abducted and illegally held at Keshav Farm near Gandhinagar. The kidnapping was led by Amreli local crime branch inspector Anant Patel and involved multiple officers. Bhatt was reportedly beaten and coerced into admitting that he had received 752 Bitcoin from Mavani and had stored 176 of them with his associate, Kirit Paladiya. The remaining were sold for approximately $5 million. Bhatt was released only after agreeing to transfer a portion of the Bitcoin and $3.6 million in cash. When the deal fell through, the accused forced Bhatt to sell 34 Bitcoin from Paladiya’s wallet, resulting in an extortion of $150,000. Bhatt later filed a complaint with the Union home ministry, prompting a criminal investigation and the arrest of 15 individuals. The prosecution, led by special public prosecutor Amit Patel, presented 173 witnesses during the trial. The court also ordered the confiscation of gold ornaments recovered from Amreli SP Patel, which will be transferred to the Master of Mint in Mumbai.