BHUBANESWAR: Kerala-based director of a shell company that laundered crores of rupees through a ponzi scheme and football betting app has been nabbed by Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch.
Deelipkumar P, 35, was produced before a local court in Chatakudy and is being brought to the state on a six-day transit remand. The EOW has traced over Rs 19.49 crore that was routed through Deelipkumar’s company Priwest Global Solution Pvt Ltd based at Thrissur.
He is also founder-cum-managing trustee of Omana Foundation Public Charitable Trust, Coimbatore which was also used to channelise crime proceeds of the scam. EOW sources said, over 4000 to 5000 illegal transactions were done in the bank accounts of these two entities. Earlier in this case, a lookout circular was issued against Md Saif, a Dubai-based operator and promoter of the scam.
The scam has its links in Ganjam where over 800 people had invested and lost their money. An FIR was lodged based on their complaint and investigation led to Deelipkumar. The scamsters are believed to have duped lakhs across India as people invested in the gaming app called 18football.com to make quick bucks. EOW officials said 18football.com is a hybrid model of fraud which used ponzi scheme online using the betting/gaming app. It also has international ramifications because it was run online from a website which has been registered in Hong Kong and operated from Dubai.
Investors were promised lucrative benefits like a daily compound return of three per cent on investment, recharge bonus, referral bonus, extra bonus on the earning of the down-line members, salary bonus and daily withdrawal option. They were also provided with ‘foreigner mentors’ to assist them in betting through Telegram or app.