$190 Million in Stolen Crypto Recovered—BitConnect Fraud Unraveled

Along with the crypto assets, authorities confiscated a black Lexus SUV and around $15,500 in cash.

That said, it represents only a small portion of the total funds lost. BitConnect’s fraudulent operations led to the disappearance of roughly 325,000 Bitcoin BTC $85,093.34 , worth over 31 billion, from investors who were misled by false promises.

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According to a February 15 statement, the scheme attempted to conceal transactions using the dark web. However, officials tracked various digital wallets and gathered intelligence, which led them to the physical devices containing the stolen funds. Authorities have moved the recovered assets to government-controlled accounts.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified BitConnect as a Ponzi scheme in 2022. The platform had advertised a system that supposedly generated 40% monthly returns by using an automated trading bot.

Investors were encouraged to send their crypto to BitConnect, believing it would be used for trading. Instead, BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani and promoter Glenn Arcaro transferred the funds into wallets they controlled.

In 2023, Arcaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and agreed to return over $17 million to more than 800 victims. Kumbhani, however, has disappeared from India and remains missing.

Two Estonian men, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, recently confessed to running a $577 million crypto fraud scheme. What did authorities say? Read the full story.