No FBI team probing ‘bitcoin scam’ in India, clarifies CBI

Further, the central agency also clarified that no such requests have also been made by the FBI to the CBI.

“Accordingly, the question of according any permission for the probe by Competent Authority in India does not arise. CBI as the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL in India coordinates closely with international law enforcement agencies including FBI,” CBI spokesperson RC Joshi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The statement after Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewalaon Friday asked whether the FBI is in India to investigate an alleged “Bitcoin scam” which the party had accused the BJP government in Karnataka of covering up last year.

He had also asked the government to release details of the investigation and suspects, including political people.

In addition to this, Congress MLA from Chittarpur Priyank Kharge had said he believed the “FBI is in Delhi to investigate the billion dollar” Bitcoin scam.

“Like i said before, if the state investigates the matter diligently, a lot of BJP’s skeletons will tumble out,” he had said.

Following this, senior officials had said that the statements and reports claiming the presence of the FBI team to probe the case are “speculative, without any basis” and issued with a “malafide intent”. 

At a press conference last year, Surjewala had alleged that the size of the Bitcoin scam could be much bigger because in just two days on 1 December 2020 and 14 April 2021 illegal transactions worth ₹5,240 crore took place.

Accusing the Congress of playing politics on the alleged bitcoin scam issue, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had last year asked the opposition party to give documents, if any, to investigating agencies. 

With inputs from agencies.