Private companies are duping the citizens to the tune of lakhs of rupees in the name of investments through chit-fund or real estate businesses. The district police have taken action against few companies in recent past, but still the masterminds are out of police reach.
In the preliminary investigation, the fact has come to fore that new companies were floated for such purposes and frequently, changed their locations. While talking to The Pioneer Addl SP Zone-2 Riyaz Iqbal said that during investigation, it was found that the regional offices of the companies in the city are not aware of the extent of fraud and masterminds behind the operations are operating from national capital.
One such company, Sai Prakash Property Developers has duped the citizens to the tune of Rs8 crore in four States while the kingpins behind the fraud are still at large. Other cases of fraud are being investigated. The employees working for these companies are been questioned and would lead to vital links, he added.
Providing details of such frauds Addl SP Crime Shailendra Singh Chouhan said that awareness is the key and people should check the authenticity of these companies using reliable sources. These companies operate as Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) and are not registered with the RBI which is the primary requirement for a NBFC.
The part of the police after the fraud remains crucial, but the kingpins remain far from the regional offices which makes tough to nab them, he added. In the past few months, the frauds, which surfaced were of ORS builders and Reality cheated around 500 people in the name of Saral Paradise Company of Babban Prasad Verma. In the three years of its functioning, the company duped to the tune of Rs85 crore.
Mukesh Patil of Maxima Profit used to deal in selling- buying lands in the name of investment in rural areas cheated around 15 people. A case was registered at Ratibad police station, but Patil still remains absconding. In most of the cases companies involved in the fraud provide documents of the ownership of the farmers which are roped in by contract of good returns in their lands.
Two cases have been reported in the month of April in which around 80 people were duped by these chit fund companies and cheated to the tune of crores of rupees. On April 6, 2015, Phoenix Infrastructure Estate International ltd duped more than three dozen persons to the tune of crores of rupees in the name of developing and providing property in their housing project at Bhori.
In the same month on April 19, a case of fraud surfaced by Sai Prakash Property Developers which duped more than three dozen persons to the tune of Rs1.5 crore in the name of doubling the invested cash, but after the maturity of the policies, the company refused to pay the amount along with the dividend and interest.
A company trying to lure investors with promise of handsome return on their investment in a short span of time is nothing new. It is the investor whose capital investment vanishes if such promises and companies go bust.
As per one definition, a chit fund company is the one which manages, conducts or supervises, as foremen, agent or in any other capacity, chits as defined in Section 2 of the Chit Funds Act, 1982. Such schemes can be conducted by organised financial institutions or may be unorganised schemes between friends and/or relatives.