MUMBAI: The city Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Friday arrested a couple for allegedly duping 166 investors of over Rs 85 crore. The couple allegedly promised high returns on their investments in share trading and cheated the investors.
The two accused, Bliss Consultants’ proprietor Ashish Mehta (41) and his wife Shivangi Lad Mehta (34), were arrested from Surat and brought to Mumbai. They were produced before a court which sent them to police custody till January 4.
A police officer said, “We have frozen 11 bank accounts belonging to the accused which have Rs 145 crore in them. Moreover, we have also attached their properties in the Western suburbs area that are collectively worth Rs 18.5 crore.”
The accused had asked investors to install an app for share trading and investing money. They had assured around 2.5% profit monthly, said the police. An investor could see his/her investments and profits in the app. The accused told investors that they would invest their money in the share market and give them profit.
“The investors were told that they would get 70% profit while the company would keep 30% profit,” said a police officer. After the company stopped giving returns/profit, an FIR was registered. “The accused had switched off their mobile phones. We used technical intelligence and nabbed them from a hotel in Surat,” said the police.
Umesh Shetty, a businessman, had lodged an FIR in June at the Amboli police station. The case was later transferred to the EOW. Soon more investors approached the police. One of the investors in the case is ex-MLA Krishna Hegde. “I have been following up the case with senior police officials for a speedy investigation,” said Hegde.
A team supervised by EOW chief Nishith Mishra, and comprising inspectors Mahendra Sawardekar and Nitin Patil nabbed the accused.
