Instead of securing the seized digital assets, the officials of the audit company, with the help of police personnel, transferred funds from these wallets to private exchanges and their personal accounts.
Nidhi | Jan 19, 2026 |
Audit Firm Director Arrested for Stealing Seized Digital Assets of Rs 30 Crore
Mumbai Police, on Friday, arrested a key official in a forensic audit firm who was appointed by the Pune Police to investigate the GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud. The accused, Gaurav Harish Mehta, aged 31, the director of the firm, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for allegedly stealing seized digital assets of Rs 30 crore with the help of police personnel.
The police are still looking for the other officials who are claimed to be involved in this fraud.
The GainBitcoin scam is a massive fraud where the investors were promised high returns through cryptocurrency investments. Due to this scam, thousands of investors incurred losses. The case starts from the GainBitcoin fraud registered in 2018 at Nigdi and Dattawadi police stations in Pune, under various sections of the IPC, the MPID Act, and the Information Technology Act.
Mehta and his firm, KPMG, were hired as technical experts by the Pune Police to conduct a forensic audit for cryptocurrency wallets that had been seized from the suspects in the scam. Later, a Fort-based firm was appointed as an independent forensic auditor. During this process, the cryptocurrency wallets that were seized from the accused persons were managed for technical examination.
Mehta and his firm were required to carry out a technical and forensic audit of the seized cryptocurrency wallets in the GainBitcoin Scam and help in the investigation. However, instead of securing the seized digital assets, the officials of the audit company, with the help of police personnel, transferred funds from these wallets to private exchanges and their personal accounts.
The fraud was discovered after a detailed technical and digital footprint analysis. The EOW has seized the electronic devices during the raids at several locations in Mumbai and other cities. The officials say that the investigation may widen, and there might be more police officials involved in this scam. The authorities are continuing their investigations.
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