Cryptocurrency racket busted in Odisha, 7 arrested 

Bolangir: Odisha police in Balangir district have busted a cryptocurrency racket, leading to the arrest of seven individuals involved in the illegal opearation. The arrested individuals are Prasant Meher, Dushmanta Meher, Hemant Meher of Balangir, Amiya Pradhan of Balangir, Kumar Pradhan of Balangir, Kishore Deep, and Subrat Ojha.

The accused parties collaborated to introduce a spurious cryptocurrency named Dykan coin, establishing their own exchange to exploit it for fraudulent activities such as forgery and money laundering, thereby deceiving investors. Under the guise of Pegmatite and Sustain Pvt Ltd, they generated 1000 crore DYKAN tokens in July 2022, lacking any blockchain support. Subsequently, in August 2022, they listed their company on a cryptocurrency exchange.

Later, in April 2023, they created a counterfeit crypto exchange called DYFINEX to facilitate the trading and accumulation of their counterfeit cryptocurrencies, aiming to manipulate the coin price more conveniently.

The accused and their associates enticed individuals to become investors, forming a network by promising them extravagant returns through their coins. Using various incentives, such as free trips to Thailand and Goa, they persuaded significant investors through existing ones to invest substantial amounts in their fabricated cryptocurrency.