BENGALURU: Despite multiple FIRs registered since 2017 onwards and chargesheets filed, notorious hacker Srikrishna aka Sriki continued to indulge in criminal activities associated with offences such as hacking of websites, stealing of virtual digital assets (VDAs), cheating, extortion and routing of proceeds of crime, with his associates Robin Khandelwal, a crypto trader, and others, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) investigations revealed.
The latest WhatsApp chat between Srikrishna and Khandelwal disclosed the purchase of e-SIMs from foreign entities and subscriptions for software tools such as the Proton VPN network. It was substantiated with the recovery of WhatsApp chats from the phone seized from Srikrishna after his arrest recently by the ED, which also disclosed that Khandelwal purchased them for Srikrishna.
However, contradictory details were provided by Khandelwal and Srikrishna before the ED as to how the payments were made to the foreign entities and the purpose, during their statements recorded in May 2026. No plausible method of making payments to foreign entities has been provided for obtaining e-SIMs, software subscriptions, etc.
The examination of WhatsApp chats reveals that Srikrishna is operating cloud servers on Amazon Web Services and hidden proceeds of crime, especially in the form of VDAs, which are being sold through foreign-based crypto trading platforms.
Evidence gathered during investigation under PMLA, 2002, disclosed that the proceeds of crime or stolen bitcoins by hacking crypto websites were used by Srikrishna for personal benefits, including online betting. This was admitted by him. He used the same to book flight tickets for his associates through websites located in the Netherlands.
The investigation also revealed that the stolen data has been used for extortion, and in the case of money, the same has been routed or layered and laundered through multiple bank accounts.
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