Cops bust Rs 100 crore investment scam in Nagpur, 11 held

NAGPUR: Police on Thursday claimed to have unearthed a major scam in Nagpur and arrested 11 persons for allegedly duping over 25,000 investors from different states of the country to the tune of Rs 100 crore.

The masterminds of the racket, Vijay Ramdas Gurnule (35) and Devendra Bhimrao Gajbhiye (34), have been arrested along with their nine accomplices, DCP (zone 1) Nurool Hasan said.

"The duo had founded Metro Vision Buildcon company in Nagpur in 2015 without any permission from the authorities. They devised a plan for chain marketing under which people asked to invest Rs 3,000 for getting its membership," he said.

"Each investor would get Rs 730 per month as commission for adding three members. The scamsters floated several such schemes in 2020 and duped more than 25,000 investors not only in Maharashtra, but also in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and some other states," the official added.

"After duping the investors to the tune of Rs 100 crore, the fraudsters hid some of the cash at different locations.

One such place was traced in Amravati, from where Rs 48 lakh were recovered from a house of Gurnule's relative.

The cash was buried and was recovered after digging a two-feet deep pit," he said.

The police have so far recovered Rs 1.03 crore cash from Gurnule and his accomplices, the DCP said.

"After the arrest of Gurnule on November 19, he told the police about various locations where the cash was hidden," Hasan said.

All bank accounts of Gurnule have been sealed and the police have written to all banks and asked them to freeze the accounts linked to Gurnule and the company, he said.

Police are also taking help of software experts to unearth of transactions done through net banking, he added.

Other accused have been identified as Gyaneshwar Bawne, Jeevandas Anandrao Dandare (52), Ramesh Surajlal Bisen (38), Atul Yuvraj Meshram (29), Avinash Mahadevrao Mahadole (38), Raju Nagorao Mohurle (48), Shrikant Keshav Nikure (24) Another police official said that Gurnule used to hold a lucky draw every month at a three star hotel in Nagpur.

"He had gifted cars, bikes, computers, laptops, smart TVs, fridges, washing machines and expensive items to some of the investors," he said.

Further investigation into the case is on.