On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Punjab Kesari reported that India’s Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) had broken up a transnational cryptocurrency investment fraud involving about $1.5 million, or nearly Rs 15 crore, and had secured a court order returning the stolen assets to the victim.
According to a CID press release, the case was registered at the CID police station in Mangalagiri after a woman from Tenali said she had been lured into investing in cryptocurrency with promises of high returns. She was subsequently cheated of Rs 15 crore, the department said.
Investigators determined that the woman first moved money from her bank accounts into 13 non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, one of them on the Robinhood platform and twelve on-chain wallets. At the direction of the accused, she then transferred cryptocurrency to two platforms, Honeycombapi.org and Alibarbit.bit, believing the investments were genuine.
In total, 27 transactions involving Bitcoin, Solana,
In total, 27 transactions involving Bitcoin, Solana, and Dogecoin, worth approximately $1.5 million, were made to the fraudulent platforms. The CID said the proceeds were routed through structured layering patterns and several mule accounts before reaching Gate Global Corporation, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Cayman Islands.
Using detailed blockchain transaction analysis, technical investigation and international coordination, investigators traced the movement of the stolen cryptocurrency. They identified 15 Bitcoin transactions linked to four accounts on the Gate.io exchange that were connected to the organised crime syndicate. Judicial proceedings were then used to freeze the assets in those accounts.
The investigation was carried out with technical assistance and coordination from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Far, the CID has arrested eight people
So far, the CID has arrested eight people in connection with the syndicate. Two of those arrested are from Hyderabad, two are from Maharashtra, one is from Malaysia, two are from China, and one is from Portugal. A charge sheet has also been filed against the syndicate before the competent court.
A court in Guntur has directed Gate Global Corp. to convert the cryptocurrency held in the four identified accounts into USDT at the prevailing market value. The full converted amount is to be transferred to the victim’s designated cryptocurrency wallet.
The CID described the development as a significant achievement in investigating complex transnational cyber fraud. The case shows how proceeds of crime can be traced across international platforms and recovered.
