A Delhi court has remanded Ayush Varshney, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Darwin Labs Private Limited, to judicial custody until March 30. Varshney’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is related to the alleged GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud case, estimated to be worth around Rs 20,000 crore.
The investigation revolves around Variabletech Pte Ltd’s purported Ponzi scheme, which lured investors with high returns from cryptocurrency investments but allegedly misused the collected funds. Varshney was apprehended at Mumbai airport by immigration authorities while trying to escape to Colombo, Sri Lanka, based on a Look Out Circular issued against him.
CBI officials formally arrested Varshney and presented him before the court, marking the first arrest in the GainBitcoin case that originated in 2015. The scam, associated with Amit Bhardwaj (deceased), his brother Ajay Bhardwaj, and their network, prompted the CBI to take over the investigation following a Supreme Court directive in December 2023.
Darwin Labs, along with its co-founders Sahil Baghla and Nikunj Jain, faced scrutiny during the probe. The company allegedly facilitated the fraud by developing the MCAP crypto token, its ERC-20 smart contract, and providing technological support. This support included the Bitcoin mining platform GBMiners.com, a Bitcoin payment gateway, the Coin Bank wallet, and the GainBitcoin investor portal.
The CBI emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and anticipates more arrests and progress as it delves deeper into the network involved in the alleged cryptocurrency fraud.
