A young man, who allegedly duped people to the tune of Rs.100 crore by promising lucrative returns on their investments, has been arrested by the Delhi police.
According to the police, the 23,000 victims of the alleged scam are from Manipur, a State from where the arrested person Ningombam Raju hails.
“Raju played a pivotal role in luring people to invest in a bogus company called Welkin Real Tech Private Limited where he was employed,” said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).
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Mr. Yadav said the arrest was made at the instance of the Manipur police which had registered a case against Raju.
He said several persons from Delhi are involved in the scam. He, however, added that no complaint has been registered in Delhi so far against Raju or the company.
Raju had joined Welkin, a company based in Delhi and owned by Kishanveer, in 2010. The joining fee for the investors was fixed as Rs.1,500 and using one identity proof a member could invest a maximum amount of Rs.10 lakh.
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“The company made a claim that the money invested by its members was being re-invested in real estate or share market,” said Mr. Yadav.
After amassing a huge amount of money from its 23,000 members/subscribers, Welkin Real Tech Pvt. Ltd. was shut down in February 2011. Following the closure, Raju remained underground for over a year only to resurface in April 2012. He later started another business.
The Manipur police, which had registered an FIR against Raju earlier this year, sent a letter to the Delhi police on December 7 informing them about his presence in and around the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border. Two days later, acting on a tip off the police arrested Raju from Kotla Mubarakpur.
Before joining Welkin, Raju had worked in several other companies including BBS (Base Business System) Marketing Limited owned by another Manipuri who allegedly used similar modus operandi to cheat people and this was where Raju allegedly learnt how multi-level marketing companies work, said the police.
Mr. Yadav added that Raju had also bought a couple of properties in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi. The Manipur police have been informed and the accused would be handed over to them in a couple of days, said Mr. Yadav.
Last month, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police had arrested a couple for allegedly cheating over two lakh investors of Rs.500 crore on false promises of lucrative returns.