Pune, November 19 (IANS). Hours ahead of Maharashtra Assembly elections, former IPS officer Ravindra Nath Patil on Tuesday alleged that NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole are involved in a cryptocurrency scam. He accused both the leaders of using Bitcoin manipulation for election campaigning.
The former IPS officer also alleged that cash received from cryptocurrency dealings is being used in the current election campaign in Maharashtra. He said that similar manipulation was done during the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 also.
Ravindra Nath Patil, speaking to IANS, accused former Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and cyber crime investigator Bhagyashree Navatke, claiming that they were involved in the Bitcoin scam. He was patronized by Supriya Sule and Nana Patole.
While sharing the details of the entire scam, he said that his company KPMG was appointed for forensic audit in the Bitcoin crypto currency scam of 2018. I led him. In the year 2022, I was arrested on the charges of the same case. I spent 14 months in jail. During this time he was trying to find out why he was implicated. He and his colleagues continued to work to get to the facts. Eventually, they discovered shocking facts.
Patil revealed that a key witness in the case, Gaurav Mehta, an employee of an audit firm, had contacted him several times in the last few days. When Patil responded, Mehta shared information about a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud investigation. Mehta alleged that during the arrest of cryptocurrency trader Amit Bhardwaj, a hardware wallet containing Bitcoin was seized.
Patil revealed that a key witness in the case, Gaurav Mehta (who is an employee of an audit firm), had contacted him several times in the last few days. When he finally responded, Mehta shared information related to a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud investigation. Mehta alleged that during the arrest of cryptocurrency trader Amit Bhardwaj, a wallet containing Bitcoin was recovered.
However, according to Mehta, that wallet was replaced with another wallet. This was allegedly done on the instructions of the then Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta. Mehta claimed that Patil and his associates were wrongly arrested, while the real culprit was Gupta and his team. Patil also accused Mehta of taking the names of Supriya Sule and Nana Patole in the scam.
Mehta alleged that they were using the cash obtained through Bitcoin manipulation to finance other election campaigns, including the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the current Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Patil claimed that on Gupta’s instructions, Mehta made several trips to Dubai to convert Bitcoin into cash, which was used to fund election activities in Maharashtra. Patil told IANS that Mehta sent several voice recordings on social media app ‘Signal’, including messages to Supriya Sule, asking for cash in exchange for bitcoins.
In the audio recording, Sule reportedly assured Mehta that there was no need to worry about the investigation as he would handle it once he came to power. In another recording, Nana Patole is purportedly heard inquiring about the delay in cash transactions. The audio message is available with IANS, but the agency does not guarantee the authenticity of the clip.
Patil further claimed that in another audio recording, Amitabh Gupta was seen demanding Rs 50 crore. In another conversation, Gupta allegedly said that he had created four cryptocurrency wallets in the name of Patil and his associate Pankaj Ghode and transactions were conducted from these wallets.
Citing a conversation he had with Gaurav Mehta, Patil said Gupta had reportedly suggested that if there was an investigation, while both Patil and Pankaj Ghode would be implicated, we would be safe.
Patil said Mehta has already sold bitcoins worth Rs 150 crore and he still has bitcoins worth hundreds of crores of rupees. He claimed that this remaining crypto currency is being used for election related funding. Patil expressed his readiness to cooperate with the investigating agencies, saying that he has all the necessary screenshots and audio recordings to support his claims. According to her, Bhagyashree Navatke was also heard saying, ‘Gaurav we need cash, I am coming to Mumbai.’
According to media reports, former IPS officer Ravindra Nath Patil was arrested by the Pune Police in 2022 in a cryptocurrency fraud case worth crores of rupees. Patil, a 2004 batch IPS officer, was working as a cyber security expert in the corporate sector since 2010. In 2018, he was appointed as a forensic auditor in the Bitcoin fraud case.
–IANS
FZ/CBT
