E-Paper
Navi Mumbai Police arrest nine for duping investors in chit fund schemes
The police are yet to ascertain the total amount that has been duped from the investors
Navi Mumbai Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) has arrested nine people for their alleged involvement in a chit fund scam. The accused created a company and asked people to invest in various lucrative schemes and later closed it without returning people’s money on the pretext of having suffered losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the police, the fraud came to light after 58-year-old Rajaram Gholap registered a complaint against the accused firm, Smart Vision product Pvt Ltd, for not returning his money, which he has invested in their chit fund schemes. APMC police officers then registered a case under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.
“The accused had taken money from several residents in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Bhandup to invest in chit fund schemes. During the lockdown, they told the investors that they had suffered losses and closed the company. However, we discovered that they had invested all the money in their newly created illegal firm, Reachhood Club. Through the new company, the accused again started attracting people towards their schemes. We laid a trap and arrested nine people involved in the case, but are yet to arrest the owners of the company. We are trying to ascertain the exact number of people who have been cheated by the accused as well as the total amount that has been duped from the investors.”
