The scamsters made Rs 2.92 crore by duping investors and commission agents. (Representational)
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Ahmedabad city crime branch has arrested a man and his sister for allegedly duping several people of Rs 2.92 crore through ponzi schemes, officials said on Wednesday.
Although the mastermind of the racket, Mahesh Bhadra, is yet to be nabbed, the crime branch has arrested his son Chirag Bhadra (29) and daughter Mamata Bhadra (24), who lived in an apartment in Naroda area of Ahmedabad.
The crime branch had recently learnt that Mahesh Bhadra was collecting money from people by floating two investment schemes under the name Chirag Mitra Mandal, under which good returns were promised. The trio was operating from two offices, one in Behrampura and another in Nikol area of the city.
In the first scheme, which was floated in September 2018, people were required to deposit 32 monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each. Bhadra had promised to pay Rs 1.5 lakh prize money to the winner of the lucky draw to be conducted in the first month and the prize money would increase by Rs 50,000 with the passing of each subsequent month, an official release said.
The Bhadras even promised to give 100 gram gold bars to the runners-up every month. For those who cannot win a single lucky draw in 32 months, they had promised to pay Rs 70,000 following the completion of the scheme after 32 months, it said.
In another scheme, floated in March 2019, interested persons were asked to deposit Rs 1 lakh advance to be able to take part in a monthly lucky draw which offered Rs 2 lakh prize money for the winner, the release said.
For the first scheme, the trio collected Rs 2,78,10,000, of which, they paid Rs 20.59 lakh towards the prize money and kept Rs 2,57,51,000 with themselves. Of the total Rs 60 lakh collected in the second scheme, the trio kept Rs 35 lakh with themselves and paid the remaining to the members.
In all, the scamsters made Rs 2.92 crore by duping the investors and the commission agents.
Based on a complaint given by a victim, the crime branch held the duo on Tuesday and obtained their remand from the court, the release said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)