Pune: A Chinese national is among four suspects in a case of using a pyramid scheme for online cheating of a group of 8 people, including an IT engineer, from Pimpri Chinchwad.
A complaint in the case was lodged by a 30-year-old IT engineer who works in a company in Hinjewadi and lives Vijaynagar, Kalewadi, according to the police.
“There are four suspects, one is a Chinese national who is yet to be arrested, and three others were arrested in February by Cyberabad police in a similar case where funds worth ₹200 crore have been frozen as a part of the investigation,” said assistant inspector Sambhaji Jadhav of Wakad police station who registered the case.
The three others were identified as Uday Pratap and Rajesh Sharma of Gurugram and Nileshkumar Kothari of Dwarka in national capital region.
The engineer from Kalewadi contacted the accused after seeing a video on YouTube created by them.
“Initially, the men promised a return of ₹35 on every ₹100 investment. They even gave those returns so the investors started investing more money. The complainant roped in his family members, friends and relatives,” said API Jadhav.
{{/usCountry}}“Initially, the men promised a return of ₹35 on every ₹100 investment. They even gave those returns so the investors started investing more money. The complainant roped in his family members, friends and relatives,” said API Jadhav.
{{/usCountry}}The group was collectively duped of ₹14,96,588, according to the police. They were promised a return of ₹5,85,000 in the form of bonus for bringing new referrals to join the scheme, according to the complainant.
A case under Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act was registered at Wakad police station.