HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested four persons over their alleged involvement in cheating 120 people to the tune of Rs 24 crore under the pretext of providing high returns on investment.
The accused — Byra Chandra Shekar, Vemulpally Jahnvi, Garimella Venkata Akhil and Reddipalli Krishna Chaitanya — are from Andhra Pradesh and directors of Squares and Yards Infra Private Limited.
Initially, the accused built their office at Kukatpally and later shifted it to Jubilee Hills. Sources said that they lured 120 investors under the pretext of a buyback scheme. They explained to their customer that if a person deposited Rs 17 lakhs in their company, they would be given Rs 30,000 every month for 100 months, they said, adding that the accused had also promised to register two guntas of agricultural land in Mahbubnagar district.
Further, the accused had assured the investors that they would plant sandalwood plants in their registered land. Thereafter, after 13-15 years, by selling the sandalwood trees, they guaranteed to share 50% of the profit with the investors, the sources said.
Moreover, the accused persons reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), lease deeds and cheques to the investors as collateral security. Initially, they repaid the monthly returns to the investors for the first few months, but later, they failed to keep their guarantees, shut their office and fled, the sources mentioned.
Based on a complaint from one of the investors, the EOW police registered a case and started an investigation. The accused persons have been arrested and will be presented before the court, the police said.