Rose Valley case: ED eyes provisional attachment

KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate will appear before the adjudicating authority in New Delhi on Monday to confirm the seventh provisional attachment order in connection with the Rose Valley muddle.
The seventh attachment order, so far the largest in the Rose Valley probe with a market value of more than Rs 2,300 crore, was issued in end-March.
According to sources, a month after company chairman Gautam Kundu’s arrest, ED filed the chargesheet in the case in April 2015 against six people, including Kundu, at a special PMLA court in Kolkata. The chargesheet or prosecution complaint, where proceeds of crime were much lower, was filed on the basis of a Sebi complaint to ED.
The second case was initiated in February 2018 and the prosecution complaint was filed in July. The complaint, in which Kundu, Shibamay Dutta and Amit Banerjee were named, was based on five different cases from places like Tarakeswar, Durgapur and Baguiati. Banerjee got bail in the case.
Some officials in West Bengal Police have sent letter to the Enforcement Directorate, raising questions regarding former Rose Valley investigating officer Manoj Kumar.
Sources said CBI had sent summons to some of the police officers in connection with the Saradha Ponzi probe a fortnight back.
After that, an inspector-rank officer of Kolkata Police sent a letter to the ED director’s office, alleging non-cooperation against Kumar in another case. Kumar, who was the investigating officer in the Rose Valley probe, had been removed after several charges against him.
In a separate development, ED on Tuesday interrogated Shyamapada Samanta and Anupam Dutta, close aides of transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, in connection with the Narada sting operation probe.
During his interrogation, Adhikari had claimed that he was given a donation towards election by Mathew Samuel alias Santosh Shankaran. While he had submitted all necessary documents, ED on Tuesday interrogated his expenditure agent Samanta.

Nine out of 12 companies under Ponzi radar from Telangana

HYDERABAD: After the ministry of corporate affairs ordered inquiries into companies allegedly running Ponzi schemes, it found that of the 12 firms under the radar, nine are from Telangana.
On July 20, the ministry informed Lok Sabha that ‘inquiries’ are ordered against Heera Gold Exim, Heera Retail, Hyderabad, Kausalya Agro Farms and Developers, Kausalya Management Services and Structures, Kausalya Avenues, Dakshin Infrastructure, Heera Developers, Hyderabad, Heera Ice Drop, Heera Foodex — all are based in Hyderabad.
The ministry also revealed that of eight companies against whom ‘inspections’ were ordered, six are from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
MCA said inspection was ordered against Kapil Consultancy Services, Kapil Chits (Kosta), Kapil Infra Avenues, Ramya Constructions, Kapil Foods and Structure, Agri Gold Farms Estates India.
Minister of state for law and justice and corporate affairs, PP Chaudhary said, “The ministry ordered probe into 111 companies in the country. 109 companies were assigned to SFIO and two assigned to regional director, inspection of books and papers of eight companies and inquiry into 12 companies allegedly involved in Ponzi, multi-level marketing and chit fund activities in last three years and current year.”
Enforcement Directorate probe against Heera Group didn’t make a headway, according to sources. CCS case that was booked in 2012 is still under investigation.
CCS DCP Avinash Mohanty told TOI, “The case against Heera group is still under investigation. Though the case was booked in 2012, we started investigations in 2016.”
Heera Group is into gold trading and has been collecting deposits from women to give good returns every month.
A source in MCA told TOI, “Recently, the issue of Heera Group came up at state level co-ordination committees of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where agencies expressed concern. The inquiry into Heera is done by Regional Director’s office which is collecting documents from the company and verifying them.”
When contacted on e-mail and phone, Heera Group authorities failed to respond. However, the group’s promoter Nowhera Shaik released a video message to staff and ‘customers’ recently, refuting the allegations.
Nowhera in her video message said, “The company policy has changed recently. Many customers are agreeing to the policy. Some of them are trying to damage the group. Heera Group has been running for past 15 years on trust. There is no single instance of not returning money. Deposits are made against commodities like gold and money will be returned after trading. Some are seeking their money back, and it will be returned. Customers have benefited all these years. Those who invested ₹1 lakh, have got ₹5 lakh. It’s the Almighty who is running the group. There will be no problems to the group and customers.” The group has offices in UAE, Canada and other countries.

PACL case: ED files charge sheet in Delhi court

New Delhi, Sep 12 () The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against PACL Ltd and its director Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and others in a money laundering probe in the PACL ponzi scam case.
The charge sheet, filed before special judge Kiran Bansal, relates to the attached properties in Australia valued at Rs 472 crore belonging to the firm.

The ED's documents, filed by its special public prosecutor N K Matta, said that "illegal and fraudulent activities on the part of promoters of PGF and PACL have been revealed".

"They collected more than Rs 48,000 crore of funds from investors all over the country through a collective investment scheme in the garb of sale and development of agriculture land," the agency said.

The court has posted the matter for consideration on September 26.

The ED had earlier attached assets, including shares and an immovable property, worth Rs 472 crore in Australia in connection with the probe.

The central probe agency had registered a criminal case against the firm in 2015 after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR against the group, its directors and officials on allegations that "PGF and PACL collected funds from investors all over the country through a collective investment scheme in the garb of sale and development of agriculture land".

It said the properties provisionally attached by it under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are in Australia and valued at about Rs 472 crore.

The agency said out of the funds (collected through the ponzi scheme), Ms PACL Limited "directly and through its 43 front companies (during the period 2009-2014) invested an amount of Rs 650 crore in its group company Ms PIPL which further invested these proceeds".

"Properties worth Rs 472 crore have been attached under the PMLA in the PACL ponzi scam operated by Nirmal Singh Bhangoo. The properties include MiiResorts Group 1 Pty Ltd and Sanctuary Cove properties in Australia," the agency said in a statement.

PACL is being probed by multiple agencies.

In December 2015, market regulator Sebi had ordered attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money due to investors.

PACL had raised Rs 49,100 crore from nearly five crore investors that it needs to refund along with promised returns, interest payout and other charges, as per a recent Sebi order.

An attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is aimed at depriving the accused from taking benefits of their alleged ill-gotten wealth and an appeal against it can be filed by the affected party before the Adjudicating Authority of the Act within 180 days of the order. 

Four get bail in Rs 600 crore scam

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh district court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to four persons accused in the Rs 600-crore ponzi scam. The court had earlier issued bailable warrants against the accused.
As four of these accused failed to respond court's notice, the Chandigarh district court has issued bailable warrants against them. The ED has registered a case against the accused under Section 3, punishable under Section 4, of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in the supplementary compliant in the ponzi scam case.
Earlier, the ED had filed a chargesheet against the six accused, out of whom the mastermind is stated to be in Malaysia, while 5 being proclaimed offenders. Only one accused, Kamal K Bakshi, arrested in the case was granted bail by the district court last month.
The case is related to thousands of investors who were systematically lured and cheated to the tune of over Rs 600 crore by floating ponzi or pyramid schemes assuring exorbitant returns.
The six accused have have been identified as Arvind Kumar Singh of Paschim Vihar, New Delhi; his brother-in-law Yogendra Pratap Singh of Sector 49, Faridabad; Arvind's wife Rita Singh; Paras Nath Singh of Sector 49, Faridabad; Rakesh Singh, son of Paras Nath Singh; and Pankaj Singh, son of Rakesh Singh.
The ED investigation revealed that Arvind Kumar Singh was an agent of Unipay2U Group of companies and between April 2009 and January 2011, he was involved in collecting money from investors in a ponzi scheme floated by Unipay2U Marketing Pvt Ltd. Arvind Kumar Singh along with brother Yogendra Pratap Singh was operating a firm Secured Life.
An account was opened in the name of the said firm at ICICI Bank, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi, and the statement of this account revealed that between April 2, 2009 and January 22, 2012, amounts totaling Rs 32,17,65,373 were credited by way of cash/RTGS transfer and then was siphoned off through cash withdrawal and transferred to various other bank accounts in the names of Arvind, Yogendra, Rita, Paras Nath, Arvind's son and daughter Nikhil and Ashritha.
The enforcement directorate earlier had said that the early investors of the ponzi schemes floated by the firm were paid exorbitant returns in order to win over their confidence. "When thousands of people invested, the companies stopped the payouts."

From Rs 36,000, Ponzi scam grows to Rs 900 crore as cops probe deeper

The economic offences wing (EOW) of the city police, probing an investment fraud, arrested a top official of a city based investment firm, for his alleged role in the Rs 900 crore ponzi scheme fraud case.
The accused, Shivaji Nikale, managing director of Atharva 4 U Infra & Agro Pvt Ltd, was arrested on Wednesday night. When the probe into the began, the fraud was believed to be worth Rs 36,000 and it has now touched Rs 900 crore, said the police. Nikale who was arrested from Byculla where he had come to meet an associate has been sent to police custody till September 10. Earlier this month, the police arrested Ganesh Hajare, director of the firm, in the case.

“Nikale is the mastermind of this scheme,” said an officer.
The EOW which probes white collar crimes and has a dedicated cell for investment frauds and multi-level marketing probe has so far attached land plots belonging to this firm in Mumbai, Thane, Vitthalwadi, Pune, Virar, Wada Dahanu and other places worth over Rs 100 crore.

“We have attached several commercial and residential properties as well,” added an officer.
The scamsters promised to double the money if invested for five years or triple the return on investment for seven years and give four times return on investment if investors made a 10-year commitment. The police said that the accused promised high returns and that investor’s deposits would be re-invested in construction, travel and tourism, educational institutions, hotels and resorts. After a case was registered in June this year, the police conducted searches and found servers of the computers used to run the schemes. “While scanning data, we found over 3 lakh investors involved in various schemes,” said the officer.
A Dahisar resident, Sneha Deware, had lodged a complaint that she had invested Rs 36,000 in 36 months and was promised Rs 49,000 on maturity in 2017. However, she neither got the returns nor the principal. Inspector Baliram Dhas is probing the case. Those named in the FIR include Nikale, Hajare, Sachin Gosavi and Mukesh Sudesh. The police teams have so far frozen over 35 bank accounts and attached properties belonging to the firm in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, said an officer.

Mumbai: One man dupes over 3 lakh of Rs 500 crore in ponzi scheme

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Mumbai economic offences wing has found that more than three lakh persons invested over Rs 500 crore in ponzi schemes run by Ganesh Hajare.
2. Hajare, who studied till Std XII, has been sent to police custody till August 13.
3. The fraudsters had promised double the money in five years, thrice in seven years and four times in 10 years.
4. Illustration for representational purpose.Illustration for representational purpose.

MUMBAI: The city economic offences wing (EOW), probing an investment fraud, has found that more than three lakh persons invested over Rs 500 crore in ponzi schemes run by Ganesh Hajare, director of Atharva4U Infra and Agro Pvt Ltd, a city-based investment firm, and others.

The first arrest was made last week after some investors called Hajare to Thane’s Talao Pali for a “'meeting”, where a police team was waiting. Soon after he alighted from a private cab, he was detained and taken to the city police headquarters in a crowded local train. Hajare, who studied till Std XII, has been sent to police custody till August 13.

The fraudsters had promised double the money in five years, thrice in seven years and four times in 10 years. “The firm claimed business interests in construction, travel and tourism, educational institutions, hotels and resorts. The directors claimed they would invest the money collected in these businesses,” said an officer. After a case was registered in June, police found the server of computers being used to run the schemes. “We got data from their records. The investors cheated and amount may increase as the probe deepens,” added an officer.

Besides Hajare, those named in the FIR include Shivaji Niphade, Sachin Gosavi and Mukesh Sudesh. “Police froze 30 bank accounts, attached three commercial galas in Dahisar, offices in Thane, Dadar and Borivli, flats in Dahisar, Vashi and Thane, another property in Thane, plots in Shahpur, Palghar and Silvassa, and a cattle farm house in Konkan.

Dahisar resident Sneha Deware had complained that she had invested Rs36,000 in 36 months and was promised Rs 49,000 on maturity of the scheme in 2017 but did not get anything.

Investors were given options, with a minimum of Rs1,000pm. “We suspect there are many more victims. The accused distributed pamphlets, brochures, placed advertisements in newspapers and held seminars to lure victims. They had over 40 staff,” said a source. Inspector Baliram Dhas is probing the case.

Andheri tech support scam: Call centre in the day, 'con' centre at night

The Mumbai crime branch probing a fake call centre racket in Andheri area has revealed that mastermind of the racket David Alphonso had taken the call centre on rent. While it would function as a genuine call centre during the day, at night, it would indulge in miscreancy wherein the wrongdoers pretended to be employees of a reputed internet service provider and minted money by allegedly duping around 1,000 American citizens on the pretext of cleaning up viruses from their computers.

"Our probe revealed that Alfonso had taken the call centre on rent and used to run it under the name of Xfinity. During the day, it used to function as a call centre by the person who had given the call centre to Alfonso on rent. At night, Alfonso and his team would run their bogus call centre from the said office space. Since all the details and software installed in the computers were password protected, those working in the call centre during the day were completely unaware of that the same computers were being used to dupe US citizens at night," said a police officer.

On September 6, a team of officers from Bandra Unit of Crime Branch headed by inspector Mahesh Desai busted a fake call centre racket in at SV Road in Andheri (W) and arrested two suspects —Devid Alphonso and Sandeep Yadav — for allegedly duping around 1,000 American citizens. A total of 38 people were working in the office and they were each paid Rs20,000 per month, police said. The police also found that the callers had illegally procured data of US nationals and were making Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls to them.


The staffers informed the police that the said business was being run in partnership by Kalina resident David Alfonso with his friend Arti Saxena. "One Del Jecindo, 26, was the manager of the call centre and Jogeshwari resident Sandeep Yadav, 28, monitored the technical aspects of the racket. We then arrested Alfonso and Yadav on charges of cheating under sections of Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act," the officer said.

While probing the racket in Andheri, the police found another call centre, Innovation 360, operating from adjoining premises. Ran by one Bipin Sahu along with managers Taufiq Shaikh and Shadab Shaikh, the call centre has allegedly cheated US nationals to the tune of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of repairing or restoring their computers, police said.

5 held for Special 26-like I-T raid at bizman’s flat

Conmen Panicked When His Wife Showed Jewellery Bills, Protested


Mumbai:

Luck finally ran out for a gang of five that posed as income-tax officers and targeted homes with unaccounted cash and jewellery when they conducted raids at a Santacruz businessman’s flat and a residence in Kashimira.


In the Santacruz case, they did not steal the jewellery, which they had planned to take away as seized property, because the businessman’s wife, a 48-year-old headmistress, protested and showed the VAT and GST bills for the valuables. Scared that their game would be up, they asked her to give Rs 1,000 to ‘pay the local police’ and left. Suspecting something amiss, she filed a police complaint the same day.

The police said the gang was inspired by the Bollywood heist film, ‘Special 26’. In the film, a group posing as CBI officers execute a fake income-tax raid on a jeweller.

Explaining the gang’s modus operandi, the police said that they would look for luxurious cars in the parking areas of housing societies and collect information about the car owner from the security guard. After keeping a watch on the target’s family for a couple of days and learning their daily schedule, the gang would conduct the ‘raid’. They banked on the probability that their victims would not report the theft of unaccounted cash or gold.

In the Santacruz case, they collected information about the businessman, who owned a Mercedes, from the building watchman and kept tabs on the family. On July 26, around 9.30pm, they rang the doorbell as they knew his wife was alone at home. In her complaint, she said: “They flashed their ID cards and identified themselves as I-T officials. They also showed the search warrant, so I let them in. They told me that they had got a tip-off that I have illegally bought gold ornaments. I showed them the jewellery and even the bills, but they insisted on seizing them as part of the investigation. I protested and started yelling at them.”

The woman realized something was amiss after the five men—Fiaz Kazi (48), Manav Singh (19), Sohaib Munshi (19), Salim Ansari (21) and Imran Ali (25), all school dropouts-—made her pay Rs 1,000 which they claimed they would have to pay to the local cops. “The fake raid lasted almost 30 minutes. They left the place without stealing the jewellery or hurting the woman as they panicked when she started shouting at them,” said a police officer.

When her husband returned home, she told him about the raid and her suspicions about the I-T officers. The couple immediately approached the police. Based on the complaint, zonal DCP Paramjit Singh Dahiya formed a team of Santacruz police that got details of the accused on the police WhatsApp group from their counterparts at Kashimira police about a gang they had busted in August that had the same modus operandi.

The police team identified Kazi’s photograph in the Kashimira case file with the sketch that was prepared in July based on the wife’s description. She even identified him on Saturday. On Sunday, Santacruz police took custody of the five men, produced them in the Bandra holiday court, which remanded them in police custody till September 11.

(Left) The conmen showed fake I-cards and a warrant claiming they were from tax officers. (Right) The businessman’s wife showed them her jewellery and bills; she protested when they tried to ‘seize’ the gold

Royal Twinkle Star Club - 2 directors of firm held in ₹4,500-crore Ponzi fraud

2 directors of firm held in ₹4,500-crore Ponzi fraud

Mumbai:

Two directors of Royal Twinkle Star Club—a company in Wadala which allegedly cheated several investors of at least Rs 4,500 crore-—were arrested on Saturday by officials of the economic offences wing of the city police.

A police officer said they arrested Prakash Uttekar (58) from Prabhadevi and Venkatraman Natrajan (60) from Ghatkopar. “The two were directors in the firm and actively participated in firm’s operations and conspired to cheat people.” said the officer. The two directors will be in police custody till September 14.

The company’s managing director, Omprakash Goenka, had been arrested in June this year. He is currently in judicial custody.

The police have so far received at least 11,000 complaints from investors. The complaint was first registered in Wadala, at the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg police station, and the case was transferred to the economic offences wing. The police said the 18,000 investors include people from various walks of life across the country—farmers, labourers, teachers, government employees and the self-employed.

The first complaint in this case was lodged in February this year. The complainant, a manager at a liquor shop, was initially an agent for the firm and had himself invested his money and that of his relatives’ and clients. The company had lured investors with hotel stay packages based on reward points earned in the investment scheme.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code and the stringent Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors’ Act. The state government has appointed a competent authority to look after properties of the accused which have been attached.

Lemos’ firm Exential Group fraud

Two Goans, living in Dubai, sentenced to 517 years jail for running ponzi scheme
After an investigation, it was found that the company initially paid the due profit to its investors but after the scheme collapsed in March 2016 the payment stopped and the office had to be shut down.

Sydney Lemos from Goa, sentenced to 517 years in jail for running ponzi scheme in Dubai. (Source: Facebook)

Two Goans have been sentenced to 517 years in jail for running a fake investment racket worth more than $13 million in Dubai. The Dubai Misdemeanours Court on Sunday found Sydney Lemos and his senior accounts specialist Ryan de Souza guilty and pronounced the verdict today.

Lemos’ firm Exential Group — a foreign exchange trading firm — had promised to pay its clients 120 per cent annual returns on their investment but failed to do so causing losses to the tune of 50 million dirhams to their clients. On account of the number of complaints received by the duped customers, the office was sealed by the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai in July 2016.

After an investigation, it was found that the company initially paid the due profit to its investors but after the scheme collapsed in March 2016 the payment stopped and the office had to be shut down.

According to Gulf News, Lemos was arrested in January last year and was under investigation for ‘criminal allegations’, while de Souza was arrested by officials while he was trying to leave the country. Lemos’ wife is also believed to be a part of the fraud and had been named by investigating officers. She managed to flee the country and is believed to have returned to India.

Quirky Technology Pvt Ltd Fraud Complaints

Two Sakinaka firm directors arrested for Rs 32 crore fraud

Directors of Quirky Technology were arrested after a ponzi scheme run by the firm was exposed. The accused ran a platform through which they solicited investment and offered returns of up to 10 per cent every month.

Sumail Khan and Sumit Sharma have been arrested, while Rahul Saksena (right) is absconding. 

Two directors of a private firm in Sakinaka were arrested on Friday, on charges of duping nearly 1,200 people of at least Rs 32 crore.

The arrests followed after a group of irate men barged into the office of Quirky Technology at Sagar Plaza in Sakinaka and searched for the officials of the top management on August 29, demanding their money. It was then that the ponzi scheme that Quirky Technology was allegedly operating was exposed, as the firm’s executives panicked and made phone calls to the police to save them from angry investors.

Over a week after the Sakinaka police station responded to that call and recorded statements of the investors, on Friday, it arrested Sumit Sharma (30) and Sumail Khan (34), the firm’s directors, and booked them under the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors Act. The police have also booked Rahul Saksena, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer and alleged brains behind the scheme. Saksena is absconding, the police said.

The three men are accused of cheating over 1,200 investors of at least Rs 32 crore since March 2017.

The police have accused the men of running a platform P2P Easy, through which they solicited investment and offered returns of up to 10 per cent every month. Quirky Technology runs as a Peer-to-Peer lending platform allowing individuals and institutions to lend money to borrowers of their choice. It allows both lenders and borrowers to sign up on its website and carry out what it claims are hassle-free transactions.

“The accused claimed that they invest the money in real estate and banks,” said N D Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X.

As many as 430 people from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, who invested amounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15 lakh each, submitted written complaints to the police, claiming that they had been cheated by the firms, which had branches in Sakinaka, Marol and Vashi, the police said.

Rohit Shroff, a 32-year-old general manager at a leading software firm and a Wadala resident, claimed to have lost Rs 4.7 lakh since January. “I got to know of this firm through a friend and invested Rs 2 lakh of my savings in January. After receiving returns every month until April, I invested more money. But since July, the firm stopped issuing returns,” he said.

Like other investors, Shroff was given a lender’s agreement by the firm and was issued two post-dated cheques in July, both of which bounced, he claimed.

By then, he had come in contact with other investors with similar stories. “I have friends who lost investments of Rs 7 lakh and Rs 15 lakh. We have formed a WhatsApp group with 250 investors and decided to meet Saksena on August 29,” Shroff added.

So far, the police have collated claims filed by investors who approached them, froze Quirky Technology’s bank accounts, seized its computers and began tabulating its assets.

“The accused stopped returning deposits of the investors from April. So far, it amounts to Rs 32 crore but as more investors are filing complaints, we expect the amount to rise to between Rs 50 and 100 crore,” Reddy said. He added that the firm did not have clearance from the Reserve Bank of India to carry out its activities. The police are also investigating bank accounts of 1,400 individuals to whom the accused allegedly transferred money online.

He added that several employees of Quirky Technology were also among its investors. The employees, the police said consisted mainly of freshers hired through online job portals. “They were paying new MBA graduates Rs 1 lakh a month and doubling their salaries if they brought in more investors. They also paid their receptionist Rs 50,000 a month,” he said.

Khan and Sharma, the police claimed, studied only till class 11 and class 12 respectively. They were picked up from their home in Gilbert Hill, Andheri West, and Behrambaug, Jogeshwari West.

Hitesh Jaiswal, another cheated investor, claimed that the arrested duo spoke in very polished English and had the body language befitting top business executives.

The police said the top management also provided a lot of perks to its employees. “They held parties for the staff at top hotels and themselves roamed around in a rented Rolls Royce car and had also hired bouncers,” Reddy said. The police suspect that the accused spent most of the investors’ money by April and were thus unable to pay them back. “Until now, the accused have returned Rs 5 crore to investors,” said Reddy.

quirky technology pvt ltd quirky technology pvt ltd vashi quirky technology pvt ltd review quirky technology pvt ltd wikipedia quirky technology pvt ltd complaints p2p easy quirky technology pvt ltd quirky technology pvt ltd login quirky technology pvt ltd glassdoor quirky technology vashi

MUMBAI: The CEO and the vice president of an investment firm have been arrested for allegedly cheating several people of over Rs 27 crore, police said on Saturday.

The firm convinced people to invest in its schemes after promising them a monthly interest of 10%, police added.

Sumit Kailash Sharma alias Jahan Khan (30) and Sumail Khan alias Sameer (34) of investment firm Quirky Technology were arrested by Saki Naka police on Friday while a hunt was on for Rahul Saxena who they claimed was the mastermind of the racket.

Sharma is the vice president and Khan is the chief executive officer of the firm, police said.

"The company had promised investors 10% interest every month starting March last year. This attracted hundreds of investors, some of whom got this interest payout till July this year," an official said.

However, the interest payments stopped abruptly and queries by investors went unanswered, following which some of them approached police, he said.

"Investigations have revealed that between March last year and July 2018, the accused opened 14,083 bank accounts in the name of 3,620 investors and transacted Rs 27.50 crore online," the official said.

"The office of the company has been sealed and six bank accounts belonging to the company and its partners have been frozen," said Navinchandra Reddy, deputy commissioner of police, Zone X.

A total of 488 investors have approached police and a sum of Rs 15 crore is yet to be recovered from the accused, an official said.

He added that a case under relevant sections of the IPC and Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors had been registered and further probe was underway.