On August 18, the Indian Enforcement Agency (ED) said that a man from Gujarat, Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and extortion and violating anti-money laundering laws in connection with a major cryptocurrency-related crime over $144 million. According to the first document filed by Surat Police against Bitconnect Coin promoter Satish Kumbhani, the Indian Ministry of Justice launched a money laundering investigation, and Bhatt was subsequently detained. Kumbhani allegedly defrauded investors and fled after shutting down the Bitconnect platform in January 2018. Bhatt, who had invested in Bitconnect, kidnapped two Kumbhani employees and extorted 2,091 bitcoins, 11,000 litecoins and 145 million rupees in cash, which is now worth 12.325 billion rupees. Bhatt also distributed 2.89 billion rupees of extortion money to associates to acquire various assets.