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Maxizone fraud: Ranchi zonal office of ED conducts searches under PMLA probe
“Ranchi zonal office is carrying out searches at around 20 premises across Ghaziabad, Noida, and Meerut. These searches relate to the Maxizone Ponzi scheme operated by Chandra Bhushan Singh and Priyanka Singh, who duped investors of over ₹300 crore by promising unrealistic returns and absconding with the funds. Both promoters are currently in judicial custody in connection with the predicate offence,” an ED official said.
Teams from the Ranchi zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out searches at 20 locations across the country as part of a money laundering probe linked to the unregistered chit fund company ‘Maxizone’, officials familiar with the development said.
“Ranchi zonal office is carrying out searches at around 20 premises across Ghaziabad, Noida, and Meerut. These searches relate to the Maxizone Ponzi scheme operated by Chandra Bhushan Singh and Priyanka Singh, who duped investors of over ₹300 crore by promising unrealistic returns and absconding with the funds. Both promoters are currently in judicial custody in connection with the predicate offence,” an ED official said.
A police official aware of the ED action said that it was based on fraud cases registered at police stations in five states, including Jharkhand.
“The Singh couple used their marketing company as a chit fund company and lured people to invest by promising high returns in a short period. First information reports (FIRs) have been registered in five states against Maxizone director Chandrabhushan Singh and his wife Priyanka Singh in a fraud case. FIRs against the company have been filed in police stations in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. Maxizone was not registered as a chit fund company. It was registered as Maxizone Touch Pvt. Limited. The company’s stated business was marketing, but it illegally solicited investments from people. The company promised investors high returns in a short period,” the police official said.
“To attract investors and build credibility, the company initially paid some people returns of 15% to 20% in a short time. This increased the company’s appeal, and more people began investing. After luring investors into their scheme, the company directors collected between ₹521 crore and ₹600 crore from low-income individuals in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. Following this, the company directors closed their offices in all locations and absconded,” the official added.
A second ED official confirmed this, saying that the Ranchi zonal office initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered at Sakchi police station in Jamshedpur.
“The Jharkhand unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation into the money laundering aspects of this scam after registering an ECIR (enforcement case information report) based on an FIR filed at the Sakchi police station in Jamshedpur. The ED had conducted its first search at locations linked to Chandrabhushan in September this year. The places where the agency conducted searches at that time included Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Dehradun, and Vaishali,” the ED official said.
A police official familiar with the Singh couple’s background said they were originally from Bihar.
“Chandrabhushan Singh is originally from the Vaishali district in Bihar. He also defrauded low-income individuals in his home district. Based on the evidence gathered during the initial searches, the agency conducted a second search today for further investigation,” the ED official said.
