BENGALURU: Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd, which allegedly cheated over 15,000 investors, targeted a particular community and lured them in the name of ‘halal investment’. The firm, which ran ponzi scheme, had received a total investment of over Rs 954 crore.
Police said that the proprietor of the the firm Syed Fareed Ahmed and his son Syed Afaq Ahmed lured people from a particular community, who are forbidden to make profit by earning interest by investing their money in banks under fixed deposit or recurring deposit schemes.
“They played the card of halal investment and lured a large number of people from the particular community. Among the 15,000 investors the firm has cheated, at least 10,000 belonged to that particular community. Also, they promised unbelievable interest rates and lured investors. Initially they paid the money as per the agreement, but once they created a large number of investor base, they started diverting the funds leaving investors in the lurch,” a senior police officer said.
“They ran schemes such as Haj/Umrah plan, where they made people invest and promised to take them on a pilgrimage. Many invested in the scheme and lost their hard earned money,” the officer added.
City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said, “I appeal to the public not to fall prey to those who promise high returns than banks, which is practically impossible.”
According to the ED, the firm was involved in collecting investments from customers by offering huge returns to the extent of up to 12% month. “The money is collected through electronic mode/cheque/cash. However, they neither registered with the RBI nor with the SEBI under their Collective Investment Scheme. From inception on December 20, 2016, the company has so far received investment totalling `954,05,13,321 under various plans. It is intriguing that returns to the tune of 10-12 per cent per month are being offered to the investors in the name of halal investment,” the ED’s release stated.