ED arrests 2 Bengaluru residents for marketing fraud   

BENGALURU : The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested co-founders and owners of the IndusViva MLM Pyramid Scheme, CA Anzar and Abhilash Thomas, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a Rs 1,500-crore multi-level marketing scam. Anzarand and Thomas are residents of Bengaluru. 

The ED had initiated investigation into the scam, based on an FIR (124/2021) registered by the Gachibowli police station, Cyberabad. “IndusViva is into multi-level marketing, having illegal pyramid-type structure, and is working under the guise of direct selling business. The company engaged a large number of distributors and rigorously marketed its commission schemes under which they promised people quick and easy money by becoming members and then making further enrolments,” the ED stated on Friday. 

The agency further stated that in order to project their fraud pyramid scheme as a legitimate business, the accused introduced some products which, by their own admission, were valued at only 20 per cent of the sale revenue and in reality, were completely worthless.

“The membership fee paid by new clients was used to pay commission to old clients. By giving false promises and inducements, the company had enrolled around 10 lakh members and collected around Rs 1,500 crore since its inception,” the ED stated. “Anzar and Thomas floated subsidiary companies in IndusViva group, diverted funds to these entities and also blatantly siphoned off the collected funds into their personal accounts.

The diverted funds were used to acquire properties/ assets in the name of individuals and companies,” the central agency added. Anzar and Thomas were produced before the PMLA special court, Rangareddy, and remanded to 14 days in judicial custody from December 16 to 30.