Delhi: Fortune flips for man who coined fake cryptocurrency, duped scores

NEW DELHI: The crime branch has arrested the alleged mastermind of a multi-crore cryptocurrency racket. The man, Asif Ashraf Malkani (35), had been absconding for several months after scores of investors had lodged complaints against him and his associates.
Two years ago, Malkani and others had launched a fictitious currency called ‘Kassh Coin’ at a grand function held at a farmhouse in Chhatarpur and had called in Bollywood celebrities and models to perform and market the coin.Later, they absconded with the money, police said.

In the last one month, Malkani shifted base to Uttar Pradesh and had been trying to dupe builders and businessmen by launching a new coin named V-flix. He was also inviting investment to launch his own “commercially viable video streaming website” called V-Tube. Malkani was also operating a fictitious firm called ‘Puneet Enterprise’ and making huge monetary transactions from its bank account, investigation has revealed.
Additional commissioner Ajit K Singla confirmed the arrest and said a team led by DCP (crime) Bhisham Singh was probing the racket. DCP Singh said Malkani was being interrogated.
Malkani told cops that he quit studies after finishing Class X from Sofia High School in Bangalore in 2000. He had a knack for computers so he started to learn how internet and different software worked. He got married in 2007 and shifted to Dwarka in 2013. Initially, he dabbled in real estate with a friend named Sonu Dahiya alias Narendra. Two years later, they joined an advertising firm named Unetnet and subsequently launched a chain marketing scheme.
Malkani was reading up on cryptocurrency exchanges then and started buying and selling such coins. In October 2016, Malkani launched his fake currency, and on December 3, 2017, held the farmhouse party followed by a seminar. The currency was priced at Rs 3.5 per coin.
The launch was successful, which inspired the gang to organise more ‘youth seminars’ in different parts of the country and in Nepal. They collected crores of rupees by promising their investors higher returns, police said.
Last year, the gang members withdrew their profits and went underground. A large number of investors sustained losses and approached cops for help. Since then, Malkani had been on run and hiding in places like Goa, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur and Pune. Finally, he was apprehended after police tracked him through surveillance.