The Bengaluru crime branch police stated in an official note that an “account claimed by the accused as his personal account” with 31 Bitcoins in it was actually a “live wallet of an exchange” for which Ramesh, alias Sriki, did not have a private key.
It is a fact that for the purpose of investigations of crypto currency, it was felt necessary to open a Bitcoin account.
“During the process of seizing, the accused, Ramesh showed a BTC wallet which contained 31.8 BTC.
“Subsequently, court permission was obtained to use the password to transfer the said Bitcoins to a police wallet account.
“On enquiry, cyber experts opined that the said account claimed by the accused as his personal account, was in fact a live wallet of an exchange and the accused did not have a private key for this.
“The claim made on Whale Alert that 14,682 stolen bitfinex bitcoins were transferred is completely unsubstantiated.
Since Ramesh has claimed that he has hacked many crypto currency websites the matter was brought to the notice of the CBI Interpol units through proper channels on April 28, 2021 the Bengaluru police have stated.