Breaking from custody, Raj Kundra received bail today from Mumbai’s special court handling PMLA cases tied to the massive Gain Bitcoin fraud. Conditions include a Rs 1 lakh bond and no foreign travel sans permission, ensuring oversight amid ongoing probes.
ED’s September 2023 chargesheet spotlighted Kundra, claiming he holds 285 Bitcoins from 2017—meant for Ukrainian mining but undelivered—now worth Rs 150 crore-plus. Defense attorney Prashant Patil fired back, decrying the valuation as manipulative.
‘Transaction-time value was Rs 6.6 crore,’ Patil stated, slamming ED for anchoring on 2024 highs. ‘This isn’t law—it’s lottery,’ he quipped, questioning if low prices would prompt minimal or zero action. Statutes demand contemporaneous assessment, he stressed, branding the Rs 150 crore tag overreach.
Emphasizing Kundra’s decade-long cooperation—no skips on ED calls since 2018—Patil painted his client as forthcoming. Bail paves way for High Court challenges to summons. Observers note this critiques ED’s crypto enforcement playbook, amid Bitcoin’s boom-bust cycles.
The scam’s shadow lingers: Amit Bhardwaj’s scheme defrauded lakhs, fueling national outrage. Kundra’s bail shifts focus to substantive proofs over speculative sums.