A government school teacher from Siddipet district, who floated a fraudulent multi-level marketing company by cheating gullible of ₹ 150 crore was arrested by the Cyberabad police here on Friday.
The accused, Methuku Ravinder, a government school teacher at Upper Primary School in Revalli village of Siddipet, applied for long leave and started his money circulation firm under the name of Sun Pariwar Group of Companies in 2015, said Cyberabad Commissioner of Police V.C. Sajjanar.
Bank account frozen
He attracted customers with the slogan ‘Kalisthe Gelustham’ (together we win) and collected huge amounts of ₹150 crore from innocent people, he said. The company’s bank accounts with a balance of ₹ 14 crore were frozen.
“Ravinder started several such outfits -- Sun Mutually Aided Thrift & Credit Co-Operative Society Ltd., Sun Pariwar Upadi Management Pvt. Ltd.. Methuku Chit Fund Pvt. Ltd., Methuku Ventures Ltd., Methuku Herbal Limited, Methuku Medical and Herbal Foundation, and Met Sun Nidhi Ltd., in the name of his relatives and close associates to make a quick buck,” Mr Sajjanar said.
Earlier, he was a real estate agent with Spectra & Building Blog companies.
Modus operandi
The modus operandi was to collect ₹ 1 lakh for which he would return ₹ 6,000 per month as interest for 25 months and return the principal amount of ₹ 1 lakh in the 26th month.
The accused also offered lucrative commission to agents mobilising money. “A commission of 3% was paid for nine months if a deposit is ₹ 5 lakh and 4% commission if the deposit is more than ₹5 lakh. Even if the agent admits members in the ponzi scheme, they would get 3% commission and the top agent will get 1% commission for nine months,” the commissioner said.
Foreign holidays
Ravinder was also taking marketing agents on holidays to Goa, Shimla, Bangkok, Dubai, and other countries.
Following a complaint from depositor D. Durgadas, Shamirpet police booked the accused under relevant sections of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999, and transferred the case to the Economic Offences Wing of Cyberabad.
Ravinder was remanded to judicial custody.
