Indian founder on the run in global $2.4 bn crypto ponzi scheme

business-standard.com:

Satish Kumbhani, founder of cryptocurrency platform BitConnect who has been indicted in the US for running a $2.4 billion crypto ponzi scheme, has likely "relocated from India to an unknown location" abroad.

A federal grand jury in San Diego last week indicted Kumbhani with orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme. BitConnect is an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform that reached a peak market capitalisation of $3.4 billion.

In total, Kumbhani, facing 70 years in prison if convicted, and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 billion from investors.

In a latest filing in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senior Trial Counsel Richard Primoff said that since November, "the commission has been consulting with that country's (India's) financial regulatory authorities in an attempt to locate Kumbhani's address. At present, however, Kumbhani's location remains unknown".

Kumbhani, 36, "has likely relocated from India to an unknown address in a foreign country", Primoff said in a court filing late on Monday.

While Kumbhani was charged criminally by the US Department of Justice, the SEC separately sued Kumbhani in September 2021, claiming he fraudulently raised more than $2 billion for BitConnect.

Primoff has now asked US District Judge for an extension until May 30 so that the "Commission may complete its investigation into their current whereabouts and, if it locates them within the United States, serve them in a timely fashion".

"The Commission did not know the whereabouts of Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, at the time it filed this action, and BitConnect is an unincorporated entity the Commission must serve through its manager, Kumbhani," said Primoff in the filing.

According to court