Indian police arrest 4 involved in alleged $14 million crypto racket

Authorities in India have arrested four people for allegedly scamming approximately 1 billion rupees ($14 million) in a cryptocurrency scheme, Times of India reports.

According to reports, the suspects launched a cryptocurrency last year called Cashcoin, promising investors outsize returns. The matter was brought to police attention by an alleged victim who filed a report claiming he was scammed out of 12 million rupees ($168,102).

"The accused held meetings in Mumbai, Surat and other parts of Gujarat, and lured people into investing their hard-earned money by promising to double it in two months. Initially, the gang repaid a few investors to lure more people in and then defaulted. Their intention was to cheat," said Indian police inspector Sunil Jadhav.

Up to now, India's government has been at best mistrusting and at worst openly hostile toward cryptocurrency, finance minister Arun Jaitley famously saying in early 2018 that the Indian government "does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system."