Bhubaneswar, A court in Odisha's Balasore district on Wednesday sentenced a man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment after he was found guilty of fraud in crypto investment. Court sentences man to 7 years imprisonment for cheating investors The designated court set up under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors Act, 2011, also slapped a penalty of ₹2.35 lakh on convict Nilesh Kumar Kar. He was convicted under different sections of the IPC and IT Act.

The case was registered on April 5, 2023, and the accused Nilesh Kar was arrested on April 6, 2023, from Balasore. Mahamanya Jena of Balasore had lodged a complaint alleging that Nilesh Kar had induced him to invest in an App/website to earn extra money. He had invested ₹2,13,038 by depositing the same between January to March 2023.

When he was supposed to get ₹50,57,117 on his invested amount, suddenly the website stopped functioning and he could not withdraw the amount, Jena alleged. During the investigation, the Economic Offence Wing under the Crime Branch of Odisha police found that the website was a fake website developed for mining of crypto currency. One has to invest a minimum amount of ₹665 to become a member to get a return of ₹1487.25 after 37 days.

An investor was assured of earning about ₹40 daily on the invested amount. The convict Nilesh Kar, being the leader of the fake website for Balasore district had induced more than 400 persons of Odisha including Jena to become members of the website, the EOW said. The investigation also revealed that the convict showed fake authorisation letter from RBI.

After collecting money, suddenly the wallet and the website were closed down. The convict along with other accused persons cheated the investors of Odisha ₹1.13 crore, Special Public Prosecutor of the OPID Court, Balasore, said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.