The Maharashtra government has launched an advertisement campaign to alert people to be careful while making investments in schemes by ponzi companies and multi-level marketing firms.
The advertisement, issued by the home department, said many investors have been duped. It urged investors not to get carried away by the tall claims made by such companies and cross-check the veracity of the schemes before investing in them.
If cheated, investors should immediately file a complaint with the local police. People must also inform police if they notice similar incidents involving others, the advertisement noted.
The home department said the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 offers relief to depositors duped by non-banking financial institutions.
A senior official told Business Standard the home department's advertisement is in the wake of the recent arrests made by the economic offences wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police.
The EOW has registered a cheating and criminal conspiracy case against MMM India for allegedly duping more than 70,000 people of Rs 2,000 crore. The company had allegedly promised unrealistic returns to investors.
Mumbai Police’s EOW has also registered a case against QNet, a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing operator, for allegedly conning thousands of investors by selling them plastic and glass products terming them “miraculous” objects that can cure severe diseases including cancer. QNet was accused of collecting money under the garb of selling products. The EOW has arrested QNet's eight agents and froze the bank accounts of these people.
The investigation wing has also been probing another scam involving Singapore-registered Speak Asia Pte for allegedly raising money from a large number of people under the garb of running an online survey company. The firm operators have reportedly duped about 2.4 million investors of Rs 2,276 crore.
