Indian crypto Ponzi scheme runner denied bail as fraud masterminds face reckoning

Last week, the Himachal Pradesh High Court rejected the bail plea of Abhishek Sharma, one of the key promoters in a crypto multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme that allegedly defrauded over 80,000 investors across India. Currently, total losses are estimated at Rs 500 crore, about $3.6 million.

It was Justice Sushil Kukreja who delivered the judgment on April 30.

“Economic offenses are considered grave offenses as they affect the economy of the country as a whole, and such offenses having a deep-rooted conspiracy and involving huge loss of public funds are to be viewed seriously,” the court stated.

Indian Ponzi scheme operators land in legal trouble

Sharma and his associates allegedly conducted the scheme through connected platforms, including Korvio, Voscrow, DGT, Hypenext, and A-Global.

The scheme itself followed a familiar pattern:

• Users bought virtual tokens with real money after promises that their returns would double.
• Early payouts even built credibility and drew in more users.
• By December 25, 2021, all distributions stopped.

The promoters then moved their operations to Hypenext, where they briefly paid partial returns before releasing a video blaming “technical issues” and asking for five more months of patience. Eventually, users were directed to move their funds to a third platform called A-Global, which never paid any returns.

Mastermind fled to Dubai as ED launched raids

Shortly after the incident, Subhash Sharma, the headliner for the crypto Ponzi scheme, fled India in 2023. Several other accused members had already relocated to Dubai before police even filed First Information Reports, leading the authorities to issue lookout circulars.

By December 2025, the Enforcement Directorate had raided eight locations across Himachal Pradesh and Punjab under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. One of the accused was also intercepted at Delhi’s IGI Airport as well.

According to local reports, the agency froze three bank lockers and deposits amounting to Rs 1.2 crore, around $126,000, and seized documents concerning real estate investments, including benami (proxy-owned) properties acquired with fraud proceeds.

Investigators also discovered that token prices were manipulated and money was laundered through real estate developers, shell companies, and family bank accounts.

Why was Abhishek Sharma denied bail?

Sharma’s lawyers argued he had been detained too long. While the court acknowledged constitutional protections against indefinite detention, it also insisted that the scale of the offense and Sharma’s active role in it justified keeping him in custody.

Additionally, the court stated that the fact that some co-accused individuals had received bail did not entitle Sharma to the same courtesy, given his position in the conspiracy.

Evidence across backend data analysis, payout records, and witness statements all pointed to his substantial participation across multiple platforms.

Asian crypto fraudsters face reckoning

The ruling comes as courts and regulators across the region tighten their grip on crypto fraud masterminds.

Cryptopolitan previously reported on Cambodia’s extradition of Chen Zhi, the Prince Group chairman accused by U.S. authorities of running forced-labor scam compounds that stole billions in cryptocurrency. The U.S. Treasury confiscated approximately $14 billion in Bitcoin linked to his operations.

The U.S. Treasury even sanctioned a sitting Cambodian senator and 28 entities in April for running crypto fraud compounds, per Cryptopolitan.

Over in Hong Kong, 10 defendants in the JPEX cryptocurrency fraud, which trapped over HK$1.6 billion and more than 2,700 victims, were remanded in custody in March 2026.

A Special Investigation Team was also established in India in 2023 to specifically probe cryptocurrency-related frauds in the Himachal Pradesh region. The court stated that MLM and Ponzi schemes have repeatedly used the promise of profits to target people in smaller Indian cities where financial literacy around cryptocurrency remains limited.