Delhi: 2 men arrested for duping people of over Rs 1.24 crore in Ponzi scheme

New Delhi, August 27

Two men were arrested for allegedly duping people on the pretext of investing their money in the share market and other places for high returns, police said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Sandeep Bhatia, a resident of Ambala Cantt, and Sachin Kumar of Adarsh Nagar here, they said.

In a complaint, Ashim Sikka said he was approached online by one Arman Thapa, who introduced himself as an investment broker.

Thapa induced him to invest Rs 2 lakh with a promise to pay Rs 48,000 per day for one month, police said.

The complainant agreed to invest Rs 1 lakh for assured return of Rs 24,000 per day for 30 days.

However, the accused told Sikka that his amount had been sent into the scheme of Rs 2 lakh by mistake and requested to pay Rs 1 lakh more, police said.

When complainant asked for return of one day, accused paid Rs 24,000 to gain his trust.

After getting Rs 24,000, Sikka paid Rs 1 lakh more to the accused. Later, the accused switched his phone off, they said.

During the investigation, police analysed the data and money trail and found that the main accused was in Ambala.

Police arrested Bhatia from Ambala on Thursday and Kumar from Delhi on Friday, a senior police officer said.

The amount used to be collected in a bank account in Delhi from where, it used to be transferred to another in Ambala and later, divided among the accused, the officer said.

Bhatia runs a gambling racket in Ambala where he invests the amount siphoned from investors.

He drives a taxi and frequently visits Ambala to meet his partners, the officer said.

Over Rs 1.24 crore was credited in their bank account in Delhi and almost the entire amount was transferred to the bank in Ambala immediately, the officer said.

Further investigation is underway to nab others involved in the racket, police added. — PTI