Supriya Sule and Nana Patole involved in alleged Bitcoin scam to fund Maharashtra polls? Viral audio clips suspected to be AI-generated

The Maharashtra Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction face corruption allegations as the state is voting today for assembly elections. On November 19, retired police officer Ravindranath Patil accused NCP leader Supriya Sule and Congress chief Nana Patole of using funds from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud to finance election campaigns.

Patil also alleges that senior IPS officer Amitabh Gupta and audit firm employee Gaurav Mehta orchestrated the fraud. He claims Gupta ordered the replacement of a hardware wallet belonging to crypto scam mastermind Amit Bharadwaj, framing Patil and his colleagues. Mehta recently alleged Gupta's involvement, with the funds allegedly directed toward Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha campaigns.

Following Patil’s accusations, the BJP intensified its attack on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) by releasing four audio clips. In the recordings, Sule is heard discussing money with Mehta in exchange for bitcoins to fund election campaigns, while assuring that any inquiries would be managed once in power. Another clip features Patole pressuring Gupta for funds. In a separate conversation, Mehta tells Gupta that all transactions were conducted under the names of Patil and Ghode. Gupta is also heard instructing Mehta to arrange ₹50 crore for delivery in Dubai the following week.

Denying the allegations, Sule dismissed them as "tactics to spread false information and mislead righteous voters." She has also filed a criminal complaint with the Election Commission of India and the Cybercrime Department regarding the Bitcoin misappropriation claims.

NewsMeter listened to the audio clips and compared the voices of Supriya Sule, Nana Patole, and IPS Amitabh Gupta with their publicly available interviews on YouTube. The voices in the BJP-released audio do not match the original voices of any of the three individuals.

An X user compared the viral clip of Amitabh Gupta with an original video of him speaking on stage. We found significant differences in tone and accent, and the pronunciation of Indian names like "Lakshmi" and "Bhagyashree" sounded noticeably unusual.

Analysis of Audios

The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), of which NewsMeter is a member, conducted an investigation using advanced AI detection tools.

Audio 1: Sule and Mehta

An analysis by the Deepfake-o-Meter revealed that the alleged audio of Supriya Sule is AI-generated, with five detectors' detection probability ranging from 77.7 to 100 percent. Similarly, TureMedia identified the audio as 100 percent AI-generated. The Hiya AI Voice Detection tool also confirmed it as AI-generated, with only a percent match to human creators.

Audio 2: Patole and Gupta

TrueMedia's analysis of Patole's audio suggests it could either be authentic or manipulated. Hiya AI Voice Detection found a 71 percent match with human voices. The DAU explained that the short length of the audio might explain why the tools couldn't detect any manipulation.

Audio 3: Gaurav Mehta and Amitabh Gupta

Hiya AI Voice Detection analysis confirms the audio is AI-generated, with 14 percent matches to live human voices. TrueMedia also detects it as 100 percent AI-generated, while the Hive Audio Detector further confirms the same.

Audio 4: Amitabh Gupta and Gaurav Mehta

TrueMedia confidently identifies the audio as AI-generated, with 100 percent certainty. Hiya also confirms it is AI-generated, showing a 4 percent match to live human voices. Additionally, Hive Voice Detection tools, analysing the audio at different timestamps, validate it as AI-generated.