Cryptocurrency fraud: Himachal cops lose Rs 400 crores

Over a thousand police officers in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi area had fallen victim to a fraud involving a local cryptocurrency. Most of the impacted police officers were conned out of crores of rupees by the phoney cryptocurrency known as ‘Korvio Coin’ (KRO) and ‘DGT Coin.’
Some of them, however, not only made up their losses, but also assumed the role of scheme promoters, luring further naive investors into the fraud.
According to the sources, investigators of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the scam.
Reportedly, at least one lakh people have been duped by the fraudsters in connection with the fraud, and 2.5 lakh IDs have been found, which included multiple IDs of the same person.

According to the reports, the fraudsters initially promised the investors for assured high returns in a short span of time. Along with this, they also created a network which further expanded the chain within their own circles. 
Thereafter, Policemen, teachers and others got involved in the scheme for quick returns in short span of time. 
Although a majority of the police personnel involved suffered losses, but somehow the promotion of the scheme by fraudster created trust among the investors and gave credibility to the investment plan. Meanwhile, some policemen involved in the cryptocurrency scheme also opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), and became its promoters, according to officials. 
Other deposit schemes, such as a 10% monthly return on a Rs 90,000 investment, were also discovered during the inquiry, according to the officials.
Meanwhile, police have also advised the general public to exercise cautious if any plan makes annual returns of over 12%.
Sukhdev and Hemraj, the two major suspects who were earlier this month detained in Gujarat, admitted during questioning that they owe Rs 400 crore in unpaid debts. Subash, the suspected mastermind of the fraud, is still at large.