Bitcoin Extortion Plot Lands 14, Including Police Officers, Life Sentences in India

• Indian court jails 14, including ex-MLA and police chief, for 2018 Bitcoin kidnapping.
• Businessman Shailesh Bhatt was abducted and forced to transfer Bitcoin worth over $150,000.
• Case exposes misuse of power in crypto crimes involving top officials and law enforcement.

An Indian anti-corruption court has thrown the book at 14 individuals, including senior police officials and a former legislator, sentencing them all to life in prison for a 2018 Bitcoin extortion plot. The crew was found guilty of abducting a local businessman in Gujarat to get their hands on his crypto stash, marking one of the highest-profile cases of official corruption in India’s crypto history.

Among those convicted are Jagdish Patel, a former district superintendent of police, and Nalin Kotadiya, a former legislator from India’s ruling party, the BJP, along with eleven other police officials.

Corrupt Officials Plotted to Extort 752 Bitcoin from a Local Businessman

The story goes back to February 11, 2018, when a team of police officers led by crime branch inspector Anant Patel abducted Surat-based businessman Shailesh Bhatt. They illegally detained him at a farmhouse, beat him, a…

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