Three arrested in Qnet case

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested three persons who allegedly conducted a seminar to propagate the illegal multi-level

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested three persons who allegedly conducted a seminar to propagate the illegal multi-level marketing ponzy scheme Q-Net.

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Acting on a tip-off, sub-inspectors Deepak Mhaske and Ajay Kadam from EOW nabbed the trio from a hotel in Thane district. An FIR has been registered against the trio. They have been identified as Haresh Bhadra 37, Suvija Pai 36 and Monish Bhandarkar 31.

An FIR has been registered under sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID) and 420 (cheating) and 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the Indian Penal Code. They will be produced before a magistrate’s court on Monday.

The EOW recently held a key accused in the Qnet case for his alleged involvement in the case.

They had arrested Ram Singh from Bangalore airport for his alleged involvement in the case. Recently, Gurupreet Singh Anand, the complainant in the Qnet scam had written to EOW naming several Bollywood celebrities. Anand submitted a 23-page statement attaching the actors’ pictures and other snapshots off social networks to the EOW.

As per EOW, in the Rs 425 crore ‘Qnet case’, the company sold products like magnetic disks, herbal products and holiday schemes. The company used the banned binary pyramid business model for their multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme. Officials said after investing in the scheme for earning commission, the members needed to bring in more members for making money.