The CBI has booked a Delhi-based firm for allegedly defrauding thousands of gullible investors to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore by promising double returns on their investments in a year through a chit fund scheme.
The CBI filed an FIR in the case on Wednesday following a directive from the Supreme Court which in 2014 had asked the agency to probe cases related to chit fund companies. The case was earlier investigated by West Bengal Police vide an FIR registered at Murshidabad.
Besides, the company tviexpress.com, the agency booked its promoters and associates Tarun Trikha, Varun Trikha, Veena Trikha, Sikha Trikha, Shakti Sharad and Anoop Kumar in the case. “All the accused have been charged with cheating, forgery and violation of SEBI guidelines among others,” said CBI officials, adding people from across the country have been duped by the firm.
The accused were allegedly engaged in the business of share trading, commodities trading, holiday package booking and air ticketing without any legal sanction or approval required under the law. The complainant, Narendra Narayan Roy, a resident of Kandi district in Murshidabad, had alleged that the promoters had collected money in the name of Pacific Royal Airlines and siphoned more than Rs 10,000 crore of investors’ funds.
The company had induced people to invest in the scheme by offering double returns on their investments within one year but these promised returns were never paid back, the FIR alleged. The complainants alleged that the accused had created a software through which it was promised that investors can redeem their investments, but it never worked. The money collected from the investors was transferred to different bank accounts on the directions of Tarun Trikha, added the FIR.