CID arrests three for Rs 500 crore scam

AHMEDABAD: The state’s criminal investigation department (CID) in Gandhinagar on Thursday arrested three persons accused of carrying out a a multi-crore investment scam, after taking custody of them from Pune CID (crime), officials said on Friday.

A company called Samriddh Jivan Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd had set up 40 offices since 2003 and its agents promised investors lucrative rates of interest. The company in this way allegedly cheated 25,000 persons of nearly Rs 500 crore in Gujarat. The amount lost to the swindle in Ahmedabad alone stood at Rs 90 crore, said a CID source.

Three office-bearers of the company, Prasad Kishor Paraswar, Abhishek Kishan Motewar and Leena Kishor Motewar, were arrested by CID (crime) through a transfer warrant from Yerwada Jail in Pune. The three were produced in a local court, which sent them to police custody till August 28. The three were arrested by Pune CID (crime) in April.

A CID crime team had also attached 24 properties of the group in Surat, Bharuch and Valsad districts.

CID officials said the group collected money from small investors, most of whom were from rural areas, with false promises of massive returns on investment in cattle and goat farms.

In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred the directors of Samruddha Jeevan, headquartered at Shivajinagar in Pune, from raising money from investors. In November 2015, an FIR was lodged by SEBI against the company and its four directors — Mahesh Kisan Motewar, Vaishali Motewar, Ghanshyam Patel and Rajendra Bhandare — for allegedly continuing to raise money from investors despite the ban.

In March, the Gujarat CID received complaints of fraud and initiated a probe in the case. The economic offences wing of CID had then taken up investigation of the multi-crore scam and found that the firm had promised investors 11.5% interest and 12% to senior citizens. The company received investments from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and other states. During the probe, a total 15 persons were booked for cheating, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).