A Delhi resident's cryptocurrency worth Rs 30 lakh (current value Rs 4.5 crore) was fraudulently transferred to three different foreign accounts, of which one belonged to Al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of the Palestinian organisation Hamas.
"The complainant had reported that some unknown persons had fraudulently transferred his Bitcoins, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash, worth Rs 30,85,845 at the time of incident, from his cryptocurrency wallet," Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO, Special Cell) KPS Malhotra told IANS.
The victim owned cryptocurrencies (6.2 Bitcoin, 9.79 Ether and 2.44 Bitcoin Cash) on a mobile wallet.
The DCP said the case was initially registered at Paschim Vihar police station, on the orders of the local Court. Later on, the investigation of the case was transferred to Cyber Crime Unit, Special Cell, Delhi.
Wallets Seized by Israel
During the course of investigation, the cryptocurrency trail led to startling facts: that the cryptocurrencies have ended in the wallets maintained by Al-Qassam Brigades and to the wallets which have already been seized by Israel, National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing.
"The seized wallet belonged to Mohammad Naseer Ibrahim Abdulla," the official said.
Other wallets to which a major share of cryptocurrencies have been transferred were being operated from Giza, Egypt.
One such wallet belonged to Ahmed Marzooq, a resident of Giza, Egypt. Another wallet to which cryptocurrencies were transferred, belonged to Ahmed QH Safi , a resident of Ramallah, Palestine.
Malhotra said that the cryptocurrencies were routed through various private wallets and finally landed in the suspects' wallets.
(Published in arrangement with IANS)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)