Ponzi scheme: One held for duping Delhi housewives of over Rs 2 cr

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) A 47-year-old man from Bihar was arrested by the Delhi Police's Economic Offence Wing for cheating women victims, in connivance with other co-accused, of over Rs 2 crore.The accused, identified as Manish Singh, a native of Siwan district, duped people on the pretext of paying higher rate of interest on monthly basis and persuaded them to invest in Multi Level Marketing (MLM) schemes. Joint Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences Wing, Chhaya Sharma said the present case was registered under sections 420, 406 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of several victims.The complainants alleged that Manish Singh and others induced them to invest in MLM schemes and after some time, neither paid the interest nor returned the invested amount. During investigation, it was established that the accused persons collected an amount from the housewives in Rohini area at large. There were a total of 39 investors and the amount involved was more than Rs 2 crore.The DCP said accused Singh and his associates were involved in running committees in Rohini area wherein they used to pay regular return for a few months, and then, stop.They targeted only women, especially housewives, who easily succumbed to their promises of higher returns. "They also knew that most of the ladies had savings which were concealed from their family members. As a result, many ladies did not even approach police as they feared backlash from their family members. The accused used this fear," the DCP said.Nabbing the culprit was difficult as he was absconding and not residing at his rented residence, however, a breakthrough happened when it was learnt that a package was about to get delivered on the locked address but the courier company refused to deliver it on that address."With the help of the courier company, Manish Singh was arrested when he came to take delivery at his locked residence," the police said, adding efforts are on to nab other accused in the case.
--IANS uj/vd

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