UP: ED attaches 28 land parcels in 'fraud' bike taxi scheme case

UP: ED attaches 28 land parcels in 'fraud' bike taxi scheme case

The scheme's promoters have allegedly siphoned off public funds worth ₹72 crore.

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The 28 land parcels, provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are registered in the name of associate companies of Hello Ride Ltd and located at Mohanlalganj in Lucknow, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement on Friday.

The total value of the land parcels is ₹2.38 crore, it said.

The attached properties were acquired through proceeds of crime derived from deposits made by investors during 2018-“2019, the agency said.

The directors of Hello Ride Ltd had launched a 'bike taxi scheme' under the banner of "Hello Ride" similar to Ola and Uber services (taxi cab aggregator companies), and the company had promised to pay ₹9,585 per month for a year on an investment of ₹61,000 per bike, the ED said.

With the allurement of such a high return on investment, Hello Ride Ltd collected deposits to the tune of ₹72 crore from people and did not fulfil its promise to pay the monthly returns to its investors, it said.

The PMLA case stems from FIRs registered in 2019 by the Uttar Pradesh Police against the company and its directors who include Abhay Kumar Kushwaha, Nikhil Kushwaha, Mohd. Azam Ali and Neelam Verma.