The Federal Bureau of Investigation has charged Tushal Ratod, a resident of Baldwinsville, New York, with involvement in a large-scale fraud and money laundering scheme involving Bitcoin. According to the investigation, from November 2021 to June 2024, the suspect illegally converted approximately $1.2 million into cryptocurrency using counterfeit checks and business email compromise schemes. His girlfriend and other family members were involved in this activity.
This is reported by Finway
Organization of the Scheme and Banking Manipulations
According to investigation materials, Tushal Ratod coordinated the activities of seven bank accounts across six different financial institutions through which the stolen funds flowed. He transferred part of the money to external cryptocurrency addresses. Notably, in February 2023, over 40 BTC worth approximately $900,000 was purchased in two large transactions. Banks, including M&T and Citibank, repeatedly warned the suspect about the dubious origin of the funds, but he presented fake invoices to validate the legality of the transactions. One of the fraud victims officially recognized these documents as counterfeit, and Ratod refused to cooperate with law enforcement during subsequent investigations.
Involvement of Relatives and Additional Evidence
Investigators found that the suspect’s relatives and girlfriend also participated in the scheme: over $1 million was deposited into their accounts, of which Citibank later returned about $800,000. Ratod’s former partner provided testimony regarding screenshots of cryptocurrency transactions found on his devices and information in other languages. Google records indicate that the suspect complained about the mass closure of his bank accounts.
“If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.”
Law enforcement agencies continue to work on confiscating assets related to this case. The charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and involvement of third parties in criminal activity.