Self Chain founder denies involvement in over-the-counter cryptocurrency fraud worth $50 million

On June 20, Self Chain founder Ravindra Kumar was charged with involvement in an over-the-counter crypto scam worth $50 million, which defrauded investors by trading fake tokens. Kumar issued a statement on the X platform firmly denying, calling the allegations "completely false" and saying that the legal team is preparing a response statement.
The scam involved tokens from several high-profile projects such as Sui, Near, Axelar and Sei over the counter. Mohammed Waseem, chief executive of Indian over-the-counter broker Aza Ventures, revealed that his company had inadvertently facilitated dozens of fraudulent transactions over the months. Although the initial transactions were real, it later evolved into a Ponzi scheme, in which the seller used the symbol "Source 1" to commit fraud by delaying the delivery of tokens. Waseem claims to have contacted the Indian authorities and promised to refund the defrauded investors, but his personal funds have been depleted due to advance payments. At present, "Source 1" has promised to start returning funds by the end of June. It is worth noting that before the scam was exposed, Mysten Labs co-creation Adeniyi Abiodun and MultiversX co-creation Lucian Mincu and other industry figures had repeatedly warned of the existence of false over the counter.