Noida ponzi scheme: Yes Bank official handling Anubhav Mittal’s funds arrested

A 30-year-old relationship manager with Yes Bank was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) on Wednesday in connection with the alleged Ponzi online scam case in Noida.

A 30-year-old relationship manager with Yes Bank was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) on Wednesday in connection with the alleged Ponzi online scheme case in Noida.

Anubhav Mittal was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for an online trading scam worth over Rs.3,700 crore. (PTI Photo)

Atul Mishra, posted at a branch in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar District Centre, allegedly informed officials of prime accused Anubhav Mittal’s Ablaze Info Solution Private Limited about any probe, raids and suspicious transaction reports and helped them manage their funds beforehand.

Mishra is the fourth person to be arrested in the alleged scam and was nabbed during an ongoing probe in the case related to Mittal and his company. Mittal was arrested by the STF on February 2 along with CEO Shreedhar Prasad and technical head Mahesh Kumar.

The special task force on Wednesday arrested relationship manage of Yes Bank, Raj Nagar District Centre branch in Ghaziabad in connection with Noida’s Ponzi scheme. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

“The accused was managing entire funds of the bank account related to Mittal’s company. Whenever the bank used to generate the suspicious transaction report, he used to inform Ablaze officials who used to withdraw or transfer funds elsewhere. He even informed company officials about STF inquiries and also about investigations,” Amit Pathak, senior superintendent of police, UP-STF, said.

“We have sufficient evidence to support that whenever there were any alarms raised, the money use to get transferred within a couple of hours or new accounts were opened. We have matching details of calls and even the data entries. In a way, he was working for Mittal to help him manage funds,” Pathak added.

Officials said the arrest was made in connection with an FIR already lodged against Ablaze officials at Surajpur police station in Greater Noida. Mishra will now face similar charges as the officials of Ablaze and also a charge of being a part of the criminal conspiracy.

UP-STF officials have said that they also come across several bank accounts in Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Canara Bank and are investigating the transactions related to Ablaze. They added that with Mishra’s help, the funds were allegedly migrated and syphoned by Mittal.

“The account in the Yes bank was opened last year and Mishra was in touch with Ablaze officials since. We have electronic evidence, corroborated with bank documents, against the accused,” Rajiv Narayan Mishra, STF additional superintendent of police, said.

Ablaze officials and their group of companies were allegedly found cheating nearly 6.5 lakh investors to the tune of nearly Rs 3,726 crore in name of promotion through ‘Likes’ on website links. The revelation has also put huge money of investors at stake.

Apart from a special investigation team helped by UP-STF, the Enforcement Directorate on Sunday also registered a case of money laundering on the basis of an FIR registered by the UP-STF in connection with the multi-level marketing Ponzi scheme.

Officials said that Mittal’s lifestyle has also come under the scanner. He is stated to have invited Bollywood actors Sunny Leone and Amisha Patel to a five-star hotel in Greater Noida on November 29, 2016, to celebrate his birthday and launch a new scheme, they added.

“Presently, we don’t feel the need to question the actors in connection with the event held. If the need arises, we will get in touch with them,” an official said.