NEW DELHI: Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) Member of Parliament Supriya Sule has submitted a cybercrime complaint to the Election Commission of Indiaafter being accused of using bitcoin to finance the current Maharashtra Assembly elections. The complaint targets Gaurav Mehta and former Indian Police Service officer from Pune, Ravindranath Patil.
“Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin misappropriation,” she said.
“The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India,” added Sule while posting a copy of the complaint letter addressed to EC on social media.
The former Pune IPS officer from Ravindranath Patil, levelled the accusations against Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, claiming they misused bitcoins from a 2018 Cryptocurrency Fraud Case to finance the current Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Patil indicates his willingness to assist with investigations.
In his statement to ANI, Patil implicated Amitabh Guptaformer Police Commissioner of Pune, and Bhagyashri Nautake, former Deputy Commissioner handling Cyber Crime Investigations, in the alleged bitcoin misappropriation scheme benefiting the political leaders. According to Patil, the cryptocurrency funds were utilised during the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra.
“My company called me as a cryptocurrency expert to investigate a case in 2018. I was arrested in that case in 2022 under allegations of fraud. I spent 14 months in jail after a trial. During that time, I was wondering what had happened, what the case was and why was I trapped. There were other colleagues also with me. We were working on finding out the truth. A witness against us, Gaurav Mehta, who is an employee of an audit firm named Sarathi Associates. A day before yesterday, he called me multiple times for 4-5 hours, but I did not respond.”
He then further added, “Finally, when I responded, he told me that in 2018, when Amit Bharadwaj was arrested, he had a cryptocurrency hardware wallet… That wallet was replaced by the then Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and another wallet was kept. We were arrested but the real perpetrators were Amitabh Gupta and his team. He (Gaurav Mehta) took the names of two IPS officers, Amitabh Gupta and Bhagyashri Nautake. He took two people’s name one is Supriya Sule and Nana Patole. He then told me that in this assembly elections bitcoins are being used.”
Patil further revealed that he possesses voice recordings from Gaurav Mehta and said, “Supriya Sule has sent three voice note messages in which she is heard asking Gaurav to encash bitcoins as the funds are needed for the elections. She is also heard assuring him not to worry about the inquiries and one they come to power, they will handle them.”
“He (Gaurav Mehta) further said that in the Maharashtra Assembly elections too, the same bitcoin money is being used. On the direction of Amitabh Gupta, he (Gaurav Mehta) went to Dubai multiple times and converted the bitcoin into cash. And that cash is being used in Maharashtra elections… He (Gaurav Mehta) sent me some voice notes he had received on WhatsApp. There were 3 audio messages from Supriya Sule where she asks for cash in exchange for bitcoins. She also says that he (Gaurav Mehta) does not need to worry about inquiry, they will handle it when they come to power… He (Gaurav Mehta) sent another voice note between Amitabh Gupta and Nana Patole where Patole is asking why there is a delay in cash.”
Patil additionally claims that recordings exist of “Amitabh Gupta giving instructions to Gaurav to cash out bitcoins.” “He (Gaurav) sent me more recordings where Amitabh Gupta was asking for Rs. 50 crores… He sent me a voice note he sent to Amitabh Gupta, saying that they had made 4 crypto wallets under the names of Patil and Ghode (my colleague) and the transactions were done from these wallets. If there is an investigation, Patil and Ghode would be caught… During the chat with me, he (Gaurav Mehta) alleged that he wanted to come out of this but his life would be in danger… I have all the screenshots and the audio and I am ready to provide them to the investigation agencies. I am ready to support the investigation.”
Patil received this information from a whistle-blower who participated in investigating the 2018 Cryptocurrency Fraud Case. He asserts that Gaurav Mehta currently controls misappropriated bitcoins worth hundreds of crores of rupees. “He said that they have already sold bitcoins worth Rs. 150 crores and they have several 100 crores more… The cash was used in Lok Sabha elections and is not being used in assembly elections also.”
These accusations follow Tuesday’s incident where Bahujan Vikas Aghadi workers protested outside Vivanta Hotel in Virar, alleging BJP’s Vinod Tawde was distributing money during a party meeting. Tawde refuted these claims, explaining he was briefing MLAs about election protocols and invited investigation by the Election Commission.
