Nagpada husband-wife dupe 400 of ₹14 crore, police launch a hunt

Ponzi schemes: Accused couple ran investment firm, offered 2% monthly interest

Officers of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) have booked a couple for running Ponzi investment schemes in Nagpada and duping nearly 400 people to the tune of ₹14 crore. The couple is currently on the run and the police are engaged in tracking them down.

The couple is currently on the run and the police are engaged in tracking them down. (HT File Photo)

A case under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors (MPID) Act for criminal breach of trust, cheating and running illegal money circulating schemes, has been registered against Ramchandra Chilveri and his wife Roopa on Monday night.

Joint commissioner of police (EOW) Vinaykumar Choubey confirmed the development to HT.

Authorities believe that more victims may come forward in the coming days and suspect that the number of those cheated may reach 1,600 with a total of around ₹40 crore cheated from them.

As per the complaint, the couple was running the business from their office in 8th lane, Kamathipura, Nagpada.

“The couple used to offer a whopping 2% interest every month on investments. They were running different schemes which included recurring as well fix deposits offering lucrative returns to which many people fell prey,” said EOW senior inspector Bhagirath Shelke. “The duo has been on the run since the last one month.”

As per the police investigation, some investors deposited over ₹20 lakh with the couple in the hopes of making a big profit. Among the victims are labour-class people, vendors, small businessmen, sex workers, housewives, and shopkeepers. Many literate people employed with private companies have also invested money in the schemes. Most of the victims are Telugu and hail from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the police said.

“The victims told us that the father of the accused had been running this domestic investment business and his family took it forward. It has been active since the last 40 years,” said Shelke. The accused had given legal bonds, notarised documents as an acknowledgement to victims of their investment, which helped in gaining trust, the officer added.

Police suspect that the accused was further rolling investors’ money at high-interest rates to other businessmen. However, to ascertain the exact money trail, the accused need to be interrogated, hence a manhunt has been launched for the two, another officer said.

“We have seen our parents saving money with him [Ramchandra Chilveri] since a decade. Hence we also trusted the investment model and started saving money with him. They used to give a 2% monthly interest,” said a victim-investor from Nagpada.

Another victim, Dinesh Gajul said, “My wife used to save money with Chilveri like many other housewives in the area. People have been saving money with them for a long while. Nobody ever imagined that they would cheat people from their community and run away.”

Last month, the Chilveris locked their office and residence and ran away. When investors started inquiring about them, they realised that the couple had scammed them.