3 weeks ago
BJP Panchayat Member Arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Biggest Crypto Scam
A trickster sent a friendly WhatsApp message pretending to be a woman named Divya.
She told a 70-year-old accountant named Ashok Vijayvargiya that he could make lots of money by investing in cryptocurrency.
He gave them more than 21 crore rupees over time.
A fake website made his money look like it had grown to over 33 crore rupees.
But when he tried to take his money out, the scammers kept asking for more payments like 'taxes' and 'fees'.
The stolen money was split up and moved through thousands of bank accounts so it would be hard to find.
The police arrested a local leader named Jagdish Kumar Malviya for helping move the stolen money.
They say he let the money pass through a bank account he controlled in exchange for a small commission.
The police have frozen only about 2 crore rupees and are still searching for the people behind the scam.
Jagdish Kumar Malviya, a BJP district panchayat member from Shajapur, was arrested for allegedly laundering money from Madhya Pradesh's biggest cyber fraud, a Rs 21.06 crore crypto scam.
The victim, 70-year-old chartered accountant Ashok Vijayvargiya of Gwalior, was lured by a WhatsApp message from a woman calling herself 'Divya' into fake USDT cryptocurrency trading.
Police linked around Rs 50 lakh of the defrauded money to Malviya's bank account and allege he received a 2 per cent commission for routing funds through an organisation's account he controlled.
The scam money moved through 76 first-layer accounts and 15 transaction layers, with over 20,000 bank accounts and digital transactions identified across 12 states.
Police have frozen about Rs 2 crore so far and are now hunting the masterminds behind the fake platform and the interstate 'mule account' network.
- Who
- Jagdish Kumar Malviya, a BJP district panchayat member from Shajapur, was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh cyber police; the victim is 70-year-old chartered accountant Ashok Vijayvargiya of Gwalior.
- What
- Malviya is accused of helping launder the proceeds of a Rs 21.06 crore fake USDT cryptocurrency trading scam that began with a WhatsApp message from a woman calling herself 'Divya'.
- Where
- The case is in Madhya Pradesh, India, with funds traced through banking networks in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
- When
- The fraud began in December 2025, and the arrest came as the investigation unfolded thereafter.
- Why
- Malviya allegedly allowed fraud proceeds to pass through the bank account of an organisation where he served as president in exchange for a 2 per cent commission.
Key facts
- Scam amount
- Rs 21.06 crore
- Victim
- Ashok Vijayvargiya, 70-year-old chartered accountant from Gwalior
- Arrested accused
- Jagdish Kumar Malviya, BJP district panchayat member from Shajapur
- Alleged commission
- 2 per cent for routing fraud funds through an organisation's account
- Funds traced to Malviya
- Nearly Rs 77 lakh reached connected accounts; around Rs 50 lakh directly linked
- Money trail
- 76 first-layer accounts, 15 transaction layers, over 20,000 bank accounts and digital transactions identified
- Amount frozen
- Approximately Rs 2 crore
- Fraud start
- December 2025, via a WhatsApp message
Sources
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