[Express News Service] | Bengaluru |
April 10, 2022 2:42:47 pm
Following the allegations of Congress leaders that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials were in India to probe claims that hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki (26) had stolen from a foreign bitcoin exchange in 2016, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that no FBI team was in the country to conduct the probe.
The CBI statement comes after several Congress leaders claimed that the BJP government has covered up the ‘biggest’ bitcoin scam.“Is the FBI in India to investigate India’s biggest bitcoin scam cover-up under the Karnataka BJP government? If so, release details of the investigation and suspects, including political people,” Randeep Surjewala, Congress in-charge for the state, said on social media in questions directed at Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
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Politicians and police officials have allegedly received kickbacks in the form of crypto currency from Sriki, who was arrested by Bengaluru police in November 2020.Sriki has claimed in statements given to the Bengaluru police that he had hacked into the British Virgin Islands-based Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2015-16.The FBI and other US agencies are investigating the theft of 1,19,754 bitcoins (valued at $4.5 billion at present) from the exchange.
The CBI in its statement on Saturday said, “This is to inform that the FBI has not sent any team to India for conducting a probe in the matter nor has any request been made by the FBI to the CBI for conducting investigation in this case in India.Accordingly, the question of any permission for the probe by the competent authority in India does not arise.”
The CBI as the National Central Bureau for the INTERPOL in India coordinates closely with international law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah raised questions on social media.“Is FBI’s intervention a result of ED and CBI’s failure? Or an outcome of a failed attempt by BJP leaders to cover up,” he said.“The chronology of the alleged Bitcoin scam raises a lot of suspicion about the involvement of @BJP4Karnataka leaders.Why was the ED, CBI, or Interpol not informed till it was reported by the media? Was it bcoz the then @HMOKarnataka @BSBommai was scared of being exposed?” Siddaramaiah added.
The news of investigation by FBI on Indian soil is very concerning & it raises questions on the efficiency of Indian intelligence agencies.
What justification does [@HMOIndia] [@AmitShah] have to say about this? [#BitCoinScam]
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) [April 9, 2022]
Bommai has brushed aside the claims.
“There is no value to these tweets.If there is anything concrete let them provide it.
There is no point in putting these messages on social media,” he said.
Last year, the Bengaluru police said in an official statement that Srikrishna’s claims of breaking into international cryptocurrency exchanges were flagged to the CBI’s Interpol units on April 28, 2021.
The FBI is investigating the August 2016 Bitfinex hack in which Srikrishna claimed to have been involved.He claimed to have been part of a hacking group in the Netherlands when he was a computer science student.
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