NEW DELHI: A case against a Malaysia-based cryptocurrency company has been registered after over 12 Delhi-based businessmen approached the police after having lost lakhs to the company.DCP ( Dwarka ) Anto Alphonse said the company’s representatives have been booked under IPC Sections of cheating (420) and criminal breach of trust (406), and have been asked to join the investigation.A preliminary probe confirmed that the businessmen — all from different parts of the capital — were introduced to the company through advertisements on various media portals. A common friend of theirs took them to a conference organised by the company in March 2017, following which its CEO and India representative told them that a lot of people have already invested in their ingenious cryptocurrency, which is listed at all the major exchange firms involved in its trading.Subsequently, another set of meetings was organised where the businessmen were told about another scheme, ensuring quick returns.“The complainant was told that for a minimum joining fees of Rs 80,000, they will get some crypto coins and a trading account registered with the company. They were also told that through multilevel marketing scheme, if more people join through them, they will get more profits,” an investigating officer said. The businessmen consented and purchased the accounts by giving around Rs 1 lakh to the company’s India representative.The complainants told police they were then invited to conferences where potential investors convinced them to join a ponzi scheme. Each of them got at least two of their acquaintances to invest in the company, each buying cryptocurrency worth at least Rs 1 lakh for a guarantee of higher return value. They were also given accounts of exchange firms where they could trade.However, in September 2017, the cryptocurrency was delisted due to some unknown reason, making its value zero. The company said it has started a new venture and offered return but after sometime, the coin withdrawal stopped, police said.Police said the company floated a ponzi scheme, which failed and have now allegedly refused to return the invested money. So far, police have received two FIRs from at least 10 businessmen and suspect the number to rise further. The company’s blockchain data is being scanned and the owner and representative of the firm in India have been asked to join the investigation.

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