Maha: Jalna police come across crypto scam running into hundreds of crores; 101 complaints received in one day

The police in Maharashtra's Jalna district received 101 complaints in one day claiming loss of nearly Rs 300 crore in connection with a cryptocurrency scam, said an official on Thursday.

A man approached the city police on Tuesday against one Kiran Kharat and his wife Dipti Kharat alleging that the couple had persuaded him to invest in "GDC" crypto promising high returns but he suffered losses, said the official.

Sensing that there could be many more like him, the Jalna police on Wednesday issued a public notice asking people to file complaints if they had lost money in the scheme promoted by the Kharat couple.

Bhagwan Funde, deputy superintendent of police, said 101 people from across the district approached them in just one day.

Police sources said the department suspects the scam could run up to Rs 700 crore with about 10,000 investors.

Funde said the case has been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing which will freeze the accounts of the Kharat couple that comes from a politically connected family.

The case also took a political turn after the police booked former state level cricketer Vijay Zol, who had apparently invested about Rs 10 crore in the "GDC" digital currency, and 20 others for allegedly holding Kiran Kharat hostage for four days.

In his complaint to the police, Kiran Kharat said he was forced to sign documents transferring some of his plots in Zol's name. Zol is the son-in-law of former minister and Shiv Sena leader (Shinde faction) Arjun Khotkar.
Congress MLA Kailash Gorantyal accused Khotkar and his men of taking the law into their own hands by holding Kharat hostage.

However, Khotkar blamed Gorantyal for shielding Kharat.