Former Gujarat BJP MLA, ex Amreli SP, among 14 convicted in 2018 bitcoin extortion case

AMargaret court in Ahmedabad on fri sentenced xiv persons, including former BJP MLA Nalin Kotadiya and ex-Amreli super of police force Jagdish Patel, to life imprisonment for an attempt to extort bitcoins worth ₹32 crore from Surat builder Shailesh Bhatt.City civil and sessions court judge BB Jadav convicted the accused under the Indian Penal Code for kidnapping, extortion, and criminal conspiracy. The case originated from the abduction of Bhatt and his business partner Kishor Paladia on February 9, 2018, near a Gandhinagar petrol pump, where the accused detained them at a farmhouse and coerced the transfer of the cryptocurrency.The State CID-Crime filed the case after Bhatt reported the incident to the Gujarat home department, accusing Kotadiya, Patel, and several Amreli police constables of orchestrating the crime. Investigation, supported by CCTV footage and mobile phone records, confirmed that the local crime branch police inspector Anant Patel led the operation under SP Patel’s supervision.Kotadiya, who served as Dhari MLA from 2012 to 2017, evaded capture until September 2018, when authorities arrested him in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Patel and nine constable co-accused secured bail earlier in the case. The court acquitted one accused, Bipin Patel, due to insufficient evidence, while a 1,047-page chargesheet outlined the conspiracy targeting Bhatt’s cryptocurrency assets.“The accused have hatched criminal conspiracy in furtherance of their common intention for commission of present crime and abducted victim Shailesh Bhatt against his will on 11.02.2018 and illegally confined at Keshav Farm from 12:00 to 6:00 pm and demanded huge money by pointing service revolver by accused Anant Patel and also beat him and received amount towards their illegal demand through various Angadiya firms which are recovered in the present case on hand,” the court said in its 547 page judgment.They were charged under IPC sections including 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 384 (extortion), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.Bhatt faces separate charges for forcefully taking 2256 bitcoins (Rs. 113 Crores approximately) and cash of Rs. 14.50 crores from Surat businessman Dhaval Mavani, tied to losses from the BitConnect Ponzi scheme. Bhatt allegedly abducted two BitConnect employees, including Mavani, while posing as income tax officials and a complaint was filed against him before Amreli Police LCB.As per the investigation, Kotadiya was part of the conspiracy and personally threatened him with consequences if he did not meet the ransom demand. He was allegedly involved in the negotiation of the ransom amount, which started at around ₹32 crore and was reduced to approximately ₹12 crore.“It is pertinent to note that corruption is an evil and it works like a termite in the society and damage the society at large and also affects the economy of the country …they are bound by their duties imposed upon them by the Constitution of India but they are failed to comply with their bounden duty such as when they come across with information that victim Shailesh Bhatt was indulged in illegal transaction Bitcoins… they failed to perform their pious duty not only that they themselves indulged in commission of serious crime to grab the Bitcoins and to gain financial benefit to satisfy their greed of money,” the court said.The defence contended that Bhatt himself was engaged in speculative cryptocurrency trading and faced charges of having illegally obtained the bitcoins and hence fabricated the case to escape the law.The trial examined 172 prosecution witnesses. Ninety-two turned hostile, yet the court relied on remaining testimonies, digital transaction records and documents to establish the case.“Corruption affects not only the moral fiber of the society but also destroys the economic stability and progress of country as well. A public servants and a qualified persons are therefore, once found guilty of such serious nature case wherein they have absolute abused the law and by taking law in their hands they have committed such a serious offence instead of reporting the same to the concerned authority and tried to extract financial gain for the personal benefit is never considered on a liberal count but handle with hard handedly to set an example amongst the wrong doers,” Jadav observed in his judgment,