Mumbai – Businessman Raj Kundra was granted bail by a special PMLA court on Friday after appearing in response to a summons regarding a multi-crore Bitcoin Ponzi investigation. Special Judge RB Rote, who had taken cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) charge sheet in January, allowed the bail plea following Kundra’s personal appearance in court.
The case involves allegations that Kundra was a “beneficial owner” of a significant cache of cryptocurrency linked to the infamous Gain Bitcoin scam.
The 285 Bitcoin Controversy
The Enforcement Directorate has focused its investigation on 285 Bitcoins—currently valued at approximately ₹150 crore—which were allegedly transferred to Kundra by the scam’s mastermind, Amit Bhardwaj.
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The Failed Venture: According to the ED, the digital currency was provided to Kundra to establish a Bitcoin mining operation in Ukraine. However, the project never launched, and the agency claims Kundra remains in possession of the assets.
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The “Mediator” Defense: Kundra has consistently maintained that he only acted as a middleman. The ED has rejected this defense, pointing to a signed “Term Sheet” as evidence that he was a direct party to the transaction.
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Suspicious Accuracy: Investigators noted that Kundra’s ability to recall exact details of the five-tranche transfer from seven years ago suggests he was more than a mere facilitator.
Allegations of Evidence Destruction
A significant point of contention in the charge sheet involves the “wallet addresses” used for the transfers. The ED alleged that Kundra deliberately withheld this information to obstruct the trail of funds. Kundra reportedly informed officials that the data was lost due to a broken iPhone X, a claim the agency has labeled as a calculated attempt to destroy electronic evidence.
Court’s Decision
Defense counsel Prashant Patil argued that Kundra has been a cooperative witness since the investigation began in 2021 and that his custodial interrogation was unnecessary given that the probe is largely based on documents already held by the agency. While the court acknowledged a prima facie case against Kundra and Dubai-based businessman Rajesh Satija, it saw no grounds to deny bail at this stage of the proceedings.
