A former BitConnect promoter in India has found history catching up with him and is now on the run from the police as a result. According to the Times of India, Divyesh Darji, who was arrested in August 2018 at Delhi airport, was a co-founder of RegalCoin, a project that promised huge gains to investors. It’s not clear at this stage what happened to the money, but it certainly hasn’t come back to investors, one of whom recently reported the scam to police over 18 months since he handed over his investment.
BitConnect Mk.II
Darji and co-conspirator Ramdayal Purohit formed RegalCoin in September 2017, just as Darji was starting to make big money as a BitConnect promoter. Clearly calling on his experience of conning innocent people into investing in a Ponzi scheme clearly resonated, Darji launched the coin off the back of a promise to Indian investors that they could expect returns of nearly 5,000%, assuring investors that the returns would outstrip those of Bitcoin. He also claimed investors would get the principal amount back in 99 days, after which referral bonuses and interest would be paid out on investments.
Lending Platform without the Platform
Like BitConnect, RegalCoin was promoted as a ‘lending platform’ when in truth it was nothing of the sort. The token launched on exchanges in October 2017, reaching $82 within a week, presumably allowing the founders to sell out for huge profit, before it swiftly collapsed to zero. As the video below shows, by December 2017 the platform was far from working and the project was dying a death.
Darji on the Run
It is not yet known exactly how much Darji and Purohit raised from the scam, but individuals who have reported the scheme have confessed to losing figures in the region of $26,000. Darji, who was released on bail in 2018 for charges relating to the BitConnect scam, is now on the run relating to these latest charges. It seems that while many in crypto see the 2017 bull run as a distant memory, it is very much a present day concern for some.
