NEW DELHI: A major political controversy has emerged on Maharashtra’s polling day concerning allegations of Bitcoin scam money being utilised for election funding by NCP leader Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole.
The BJP released an audio recording on Tuesday, making serious allegations against Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole.
While Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar claimed that it was her “sister’s voice” in the audio clip shared by BJP, Supriya Sule categorically rejected these accusations.
What are the allegations against Supriya Sule?
On the eve of Maharashtra elections, former Pune IPS officer Ravindranath Patil accused Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole of misappropriating bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to finance the elections. Patil claimed that Amitabh Gupta, then Pune Police Commissioner, and Bhagyashri Nautake, then Deputy Commissioner of Police, were also involved in this alleged bitcoin misappropriation, ultimately benefiting Sule and Patole.
‘Voice notes & messages fake’: Sule rejects all allegations
After casting her vote in Baramati, Sule firmly denied the bitcoin misappropriation claims and dismissed the circulated audio clips as fake.
“Yesterday, all these voice recordings were sent to me by the media. The first thing I did was to call the Commissioner of Pune and tell him that some fake videos were running, and I wanted to complain to cybercrime,” Sule stated.
“I immediately complained to cybercrime that all these voice notes and messages were lies and fake, so I sent a notice to cybercrime,” she added.
When asked about her brother Ajit Pawar’s comments regarding the audio clip, she responded, “He is Ajit Pawar, he can say anything. ‘Ram Krishna Hari.'”
In addition to the cybercrime complaint, Sule filed a criminal defamation notice against BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. “I am ready to come out and answer Sudhanshu Trivedi anytime in whichever city he wants, on whichever channel he wants, at whatever time he wants, wherever he calls me, I will come and I will answer him,” she said.
Sule further stated, “Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin misappropriation.”
ED raids Raipur premises of Gaurav Mehta linked to bitcoin case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday searched the Raipur premises of Gaurav Mehta, an employee of audit firm Sarathi Associates, in connection with an alleged bitcoin scam. The raids aim to trace financial irregularities tied to cryptocurrency transactions linked to the ongoing Maharashtra Assembly elections, officials said.
Ravindranath Patil alleged the involvement of Amitabh Gupta and Bhagyashri Nautake and said, “My company called me as a cryptocurrency expert to investigate a case in 2018. I was arrested in that case in 2022 under allegations of fraud. I spent 14 months in jail after a trial. During that time, I was wondering what had happened, what the case was, and why I was trapped. There were other colleagues also with me. We were working on finding out the truth. A witness against us, Gaurav Mehta, who is an employee of an audit firm named Sarathi Associates.”
A day before yesterday, he called me multiple times for 4-5 hours, but I did not respond… Finally, when I responded, he told me that in 2018, when Amit Bharadwaj was arrested, he had a cryptocurrency hardware wallet… That wallet was replaced by the then Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and another wallet was kept. We were arrested but the real perpetrators were Amitabh Gupta and his team. He (Gaurav Mehta) took the names of two IPS officers, Amitabh Gupta and Bhagyashri Nautake. He took two people’s name one is Supriya Sule and Nana Patole. He then told me that in this assembly elections bitcoins are being used,” Patil alleged further.
I don’t even understand Bitcoin, says Nana Patole
Meanwhile, Patole denying any involvement in the alleged case said, “The IPS officer brought by BJP, Ravindra Patil is not even an IPS officer. BJP has become a party of lies. On the eve of elections, they are doing all this. My voice is not there in the audio. I am a farming man, I don’t even understand Bitcoin. We have given a legal notice and filed an FIR. We will also file a defamation case against them. Be it Sudhanshu Trivedi or Ravindra Patil. Everything will be clear soon. BJP is only lying. We will fight them legally…I have nothing to do with this. We will file defamation…Our government is going to be formed in Maharashtra, we will conduct a proper inquiry in this.”
Sharad Pawar defends Sule, criticises BJP over ‘bitcoin scam’ allegations
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SCP) chief Sharad Pawar defended Supriya Sule and said, “The person who made the allegations was in jail for several months, and taking that person along and making false allegations—only BJP can do this.”
‘Her own brother is saying that this is her voice,’ says BJP’s Sambit Patra
BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra, in a press conference, criticised Supriya Sule’s denial of the allegations, pointing to her brother Ajit Pawar’s acknowledgment of her voice in the recordings. “Today Supriya Sule is saying that this is AI generated, this is not my voice, whereas her own brother is saying that this is her voice,” Patra remarked.
Patra elaborated on the allegations, claiming, “There are four such audios of Supriya Sule… you can also see Nana Patole giving instructions to Amitabh Gupta, the commissioner. In the chat that has taken place in the Signal app, apart from Supriya Sule and Nana Patole, there are some other big players. If there is any biggest player in this game of loot and corruption in this country, then it is Sonia ji and Rahul ji,” he stated, urging Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether he directed Patole. Patra added that the alleged transaction involving Rs 235 crore from Dubai warrants an investigation into its authenticity.
