Mumbai: Following a month-long undercover operation, the city EOW busted a Rs 30-crore ponzi scheme and arrested four of the main accused, who had, in the last one year, allegedly collected more than Rs 30 crore from gullible investors, promising 7-8% monthly returns.EOW deployed its personnel who posed as decoys and invested money in the ponzi scheme operated by the company, AI Origin or Digital Origin, which also has a website. The company illegally accepted investments without obtaining any licence/registration from competent authorities like RBI and SEBI, said an officer, adding: “The payment plans began from Rs 1,500.”“The accused, who posed as civic contractors keen to invest in gaming apps and cryptocurrency, had taken 60 people to Thailand and convinced them to bring in more investors,” added the police officer.EOW arrested the company’s chairman and executive director Shrikrishna Chavan, executive director Ankush Parte, director Subhash Pandere and agent Sudesh Mohite earlier this week. Police seized Rs 12 lakh, two cars, passbooks of nine bank accounts, and seven laptop/ desktops during searches at the offices in Ghatkopar, Goregaon, and Vasai.EOW DCP Sangramsinh Nishandar said the accused had conducted several seminars and met people in various parts of the state and lured them with the promise of high returns. “Our economic intelligence unit personnel received information about this company. Undercover police personnel from this unit infiltrated and became members of this scheme. They collected all the information and we registered a case and arrested the accused,” he said.
