Summon kingpin from Malaysia, MHA told

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 13

A local court has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to send summons to the kingpin in the Rs 600-crore Ponzi scam, who is said to be residing in Malaysia. The court is also expected to initiate proclaimed offender (PO) proceedings against all accused on the next date of hearing on April 5, 2018.

 Mugundhan Gangam is said to be residing in Malaysia. The other accused -- Sellathrurai Bhaskar, Chella Dhuri, Amal Raj and Ram Krishna Murthy -- are also yet to be arrested. The chargesheet against the accused has already been filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

 The court has already directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to produce the accused before it in the next hearing. However, the ED said they were not traceable. As of now, only one accused has been arrested in the case and is in judicial custody.

 The accused are directors of Unipay 2U Marketing Pvt Ltd and Unigateway 2U Trading Pvt Ltd, which was a Chandigarh-based Malaysian e-wallet company that made members online on paying some money. Thousands of investors were systematically lured and cheated to the tune of over Rs 600 crore by floating ponzi or pyramid schemes assuring exorbitant returns.

 The ED had arrested an agent, Kamal K Bakshi, of a Chandigarh-based company and seized assets worth Rs 4.18 crore in connection with its money laundering probe on July 29, 2017. Bakshi was also a proclaimed offender in a cheating case registered with the city police in 2012.

 Four tricity residents were duped of about Rs 50 lakh, following which the economic offences wing of the city police had registered the case. The case was later investigated by the ED, which seized fixed deposit receipts, immovable property papers, jewellery and high-end cars worth about Rs 4.18 crore during raids.