Chit fund scam: ED starts process to attach properties of five accused

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated the process of attaching properties of five arrested accused in the multi-crore Crown Chit Fund scam even as some of the other accused held a function in Thailand last week to attract investors.

The function has sent the alarm bells ringing here as both ED and Punjab Police had banned the six companies that were floated one after the other by the accused in the last five years to dupe investors of about Rs 10,000 crore. Despite this, the accused, led by Mohsin Jameel, the CEO of the companies, went ahead with the function.

The accused allegedly floated the seventh company named Crown Coin last month. After related reports were published in The Tribune, the name was changed to Bitso Lives. The new company has invited investors to use Crypto Currency (which is a digital currency called Bit Coins) for the purpose.

Officials in the ED and the Punjab Police said the new company too was illegal. The ED is looking into the money laundering angle in the scam while the police have acted on fraud against thousands of investors. Sources said the ED had gathered property details of the five arrested accused — Harjeet Singh of Sunam, Inderjit Singh Sarao of Khanna, Ravinder Singh Papra of Patiala and his son Amandeep Singh and Paramjit Singh of Ropar.

As per the FIR lodged at Mohali police station in October last year on the statement of 470 complainants, accused MD Jagjit Singh and CEO Mohsin Jameel had followed the alleged modus operandi of closing down one company after duping investors and then launching another to lure the same as well as new investors. In September 2015, when accused MD Jagjit Singh was arrested, he was bailed out on the plea that he will return money of the investors. He jumped bail and is missing since then. Jameel was based in the UK and was never arrested.

The scam began from 2010-11 with the launching of Capital Consultant company. It later went by names Bombay Investment Group, Future Choise, Crown Family Care, Crown Co-Operative Society, Crown Coin and Trade Next.

In December last year, The Tribune carried a series of reports exposing the Chit Fund scam, suicide by some victims and the lax police investigation.