The Saki Naka police have arrested two men who allegedly duped hundreds of people of crores by getting them to invest in their firm with the promise of high returns and used the money to finance their lavish lifestyles instead.
Sumail Khan
According to the police, Sumit Sharma (30) and Sumail Khan (34) set up a firm called Quirky Technology Pvt Ltd at the Saki Naka junction on Andheri-Kurla road last year. They started seeking out investors, promising to get them returns with 10% interest on their original investment.
“Since March 2017, they convinced hundreds of people to invest and made up to ₹25 crore in this manner. They were paying the investors returns till July 2018, after which they suddenly stopped. When there was no payment from their side for a long time, the investors approached the Saki Naka police station. An FIR was registered against the duo on September 3,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) N.D. Reddy said.
The police initiated inquiries into the matter and on Friday, arrested Mr. Sharma and Mr. Khan from their residences. The police have found that money was transferred into the bank accounts of the accused from over 1,500 accounts since March last year. The firm’s office was also raided, and documents of financial transactions, computer hard disks and other evidence was seized.
“The accused seem to have spent a lot of the money on their lavish lifestyles. We are investigating if they bought property using the money. We have statements from 430 investors, and more are expected to come forward,” an officer with the Saki Naka police said.
Apart from the Indian Penal Code, the police have also invoked the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act in the case, which empowers the investigating agency to liquidate the assets of the accused and reimburse the victims with the proceeds.