SIT to probe Royalfine India ‘chit fund’ scam

Investors include small traders, businessmen and also many shop owners from different localities and areas across the Ghaziabad district.

Ghaziabad:

Police booked several officials of the chit fund firm after it suddenly shutdown operation and allegedly duped small investors. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The Ghaziabad police on Thursday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the alleged “chit fund” scam in which a firm invited small daily investment from hundreds of customers since 2019 but downed shutters without any information on March 19.

The police said that after the operations were shut at the firm’s office, operating in the name of “Royalfine India Nidhi Limited,” at Pratap Vihar, dozens of people who allegedly lost their investment came forward and complained.

The police on March 20 registered an FIR under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) against seven persons at Vijay Nagar police station.

The police identified the seven suspects as firm’s owner Zafeer Malik and his brother Ehsan Malik, accountant Pooja Prasad, manager Vishal Upadhyay, sales manager Sahil Saifi, Lalit Chaudhary and Sameer Saifi.

“Since the case involve detailed and dedicated investigation, it has been decided that an SIT will probe the case. The SIT will dedicatedly work on this case and will probe different aspects like technical investigation, finding trail of money chain, etc. The SIT will be monitored directly by the senior officers,” said Priyashri Pal, assistant commissioner of police (city 1).

The ACP said that several suspects in the case are suspected to have fled India while they are on police radar.

“The SIT, comprising seven to eight officers, has initiated investigation,” the officer added.

Officials said that investors include small traders, businessmen and also many shop owners from different localities and areas across the Ghaziabad district.

While the rough estimate by police indicate that the amount involved could be in the range of ₹5-10 crore, the investors claim that it could range anything about ₹15 crore.

During a preliminary probe, the police said that the firm had operated since 2019 and suddenly shut down on March 19.

The police officials said that they found that the firm invited daily investment ranging from ₹100 to 1,100 from small investors for a maximum period of 18 months.

“The firm also gave an attractive loan offer to investors which lured them into making investments. The investors were told that after investing for a period of three months, the customers were given an option to obtain loans without backing of any collateral or documentation,” said a police officer related to the case’s investigation.

The police also found that the firm hired a team of marketing persons who went door to door in different localities and publicised the investment and the loan option offered to investors.

“We are just waiting to get our money back as soon as possible. The SIT must take this case on priority and nab the people who duped thousands of small investors and fled with their savings. We expect that there could be about 5,000 people who invested with the firm and they are estimated to have lost anything about ₹15 crore in the process,” said Akash Tayal, one of the investors and complainant in the case.

The investors said that the firm operated through a network of collection agents fanned across the district and they arrived at their doorsteps to collect daily amounts while making an entry of investment in passbooks provided by the firm.