Once overseeing sanitation drives and rural development schemes in remote parts of South Andaman, Mohammed Waseem is now facing serious allegations as the prime accused in a cryptocurrency scam worth ₹160 crore. A decade-long government employee who transitioned into the crypto world, Waseem’s name now appears in one of the biggest investor complaints to hit the islands in recent years.
Waseem joined the Andaman & Nicobar Administration as a Panchayat Secretary in 2013, working across gram panchayats in South Andaman. Known for his administrative efficiency rather than political influence, he led multiple public sanitation initiatives and was once even commended by the Lt. Governor for contributions to rural development. However, behind this low-profile government tenure was a growing fascination with digital currency.
According to Waseem’s statements in his LinkedIn profile, his exposure to Bitcoin dates back to his engineering college days in 2011. That early curiosity turned into conviction by 2016, when a newspaper article reportedly pushed him to explore blockchain technology more seriously. By 2019, still a serving government official, Waseem registered Aza Enterprises Private Limited, the company now at the center of the complaint.
By January 2021, he formally launched Aza Ventures, positioning it as a pooled investment platform giving retail investors access to private sales in early-stage crypto projects. Waseem left his government post in February 2024 and shifted base to Dubai, where he expanded the company’s global footprint. According to archived marketing materials, the firm facilitated over $80 million in investments and backed more than 100 blockchain projects, including names like Celestia, Aptos, EGLD, and Beam.
But DCI Capital, a Netherlands-based investment firm, now claims the entire operation was a front for a well-structured fraud. In its criminal complaint filed with the Sri Vijaya Puram CID, DCI alleges Waseem and five others, including Vaibhav Gupta alias “Gaptu” and Diwan Saurabh alias “Daku” – misrepresented exclusive token deals, circulated forged documents, and used private Telegram groups (where screenshot functions were disabled) to prevent traceability.
Initial transactions between DCI and Aza Ventures were reportedly smooth. But after a face-to-face meeting in Dubai in April 2025, DCI alleges the communication shifted to closed channels, and funds transferred for token allocations never yielded results. The firm claims to have suffered losses of $6.56 million (₹54 crore) attributable directly to Waseem, with the total alleged fraud pegged at over ₹160 crore.
Adding complexity to the case, Waseem himself filed a counter-complaint in Bengaluru, naming Ravindra Kumar, founder of blockchain firm Self Chain, as the real mastermind behind the scam. Waseem alleged a personal loss of ₹30 crore and claimed he was misled into thinking Kumar had access to top-tier token deals. The Dutch firm, however, maintains that Waseem was a knowing participant, not just a victim.
The broader crypto community isn’t unfamiliar with Ravindra Kumar’s name. He was removed as CEO of Self Chain in June 2025 following allegations of a $50 million scam, a development confirmed by a public statement from the company.
Meanwhile, Aza Enterprises remains active, according to Ministry of Corporate Affairs records, with Waseem listed as a director. The Sri Vijaya Puram CID has not yet made any comment on the matter, but police sources told The Wave Andaman that wallet addresses, payment ledgers, and archived Telegram messages have been submitted as part of the complaint.
What started as an unlikely success story of a civil servant turning Web3 entrepreneur now appears to be unraveling under the weight of international investor accusations, cross-border fraud complaints, and rising regulatory scrutiny.
This is a developing story. The Wave Andaman will continue to report verified updates.
