Haryana techie pockets 1k cryptocurrencies from Bengaluru firm, held

BENGALURU: A 26-year-old software engineer allegedly stole cryptocurrencies of about 1,000 BNB, USDT and MATIC from the city-based ‘Cipher Technologies Pvt Ltd’ where he worked. Shubhang Jain had fled the city and gone back to Mumbai after a complaint was registered. The cybercrime wing from the Criminal Investigation Department arrested him from Mumbai recently.
The complaint was filed by Akhil Gupta of Cipher Technologies Pvt Ltd on April 28, 2022, with Subramanyanagar police, accusing Shubhang Jain and six others of fraudulently siphoning off the cryptocurrency and encashing it later.
The First Information Report (FIR) identified Shubhang Jain as the prime accused, who stole the currencies with the help of his associates, Apoorv Gupta and Avinash Rout. Jain’s parents, Mukesh Jain and Rekha Jain, were accused of allegedly encouraging Jain to steal more funds, even after the company alerted them, the complaint reads.
“According to Gupta, after they discovered that Jain was illegally siphoning off the currencies, they spoke to his parents. He confessed to his crime before them and promised to repay the stolen currencies. But, he continued to steal, and Gupta, in his complaint, mentioned that his parents supported him in the act,” police said.
According to an officer, they are yet to recover money from Jain. “According to Gupta, Jain had caused a loss of Rs 56 crore to the company. However, during investigation, we discovered that some stolen currencies had returned to the company while a few others reached different bank accounts. We have to track the currency that has been actually stolen by the accused.”
Investigations revealed that Jain had transferred cryptocurrencies into eight bank accounts, including those of his parents and friends.
“Currencies were transferred through mostly decentralised exchanges. These exchanges don’t have KYC (Know Your Customer) details. Extracting details of the currency transactions from them is difficult and needs time. After we get these details, we can come to a conclusion on the stolen amount,” he said.
Jain, who hails from Haryana, completed his computer science degree at Vellore in Tamil Nadu. The company, which started in 2021, had hired Jain in the same year as a software developer.